HV 3006 
.03 S4 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



027 331 728 4 




I JBUCATION No. 12 FEBRUARY, 1918 



THE OHIO BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION 



The FEEBLE-MINDED in a 

RURAL COUNTY 

of OHIO 



my 

MINA A. SESSIONS 
Field Worker for the Bureau of Juvenile Research 



BULLETIN NUMBER SIX 

OF 

THE BUREAU OF JUVENILE RESEARCH 



The FEEBLE-MINDED in a 

RURAL COUNTY 

o/OHIO 



By 
MINA A. SESSIONS 

Field Worker for the Bureau of Juvenile Research 



THE OHIO BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION 

D. S. Creamer, President 
H. S. Riddle 

I. S. GUTHERY 

T. E. Davey 



1918 

Printed at Ohio State Reformatory 

Bound at Ohio State Bindery 



^Q- 



THE FEEBLE-MINDED IN A RURAL COUNTY V^ ^ n^ 
OF OHIO Q^ 



A. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY. 

B. METHOD OF INVESTIGATION. 

C. FEEBLE-MINDED FROM THE COUNTY IN THE STATE INSTI- 

TUTIONS. 

D. FEEBLE-MINDED IN THE COUNTY INSTITUTIONS. 

I. The County Infirmary. 

1. NATIVITY OF INMATES 

2. MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CONDITION OF INMATES. 

3. AGE-GROUPS. DISCUSSION OF THE YOUNGER INMATES. 

4. IN:\IATES FORMERLY IN THE INSTITUTION FOR FEEBLE-MINDED. 

0. FAMILY GROUPS IN THE INFIR:\IARY. 
6. SUMMARY. 

II. The Children's Home. 

1. FEEBLE-MINDED IN THE HOME. 

2. FAMILY HISTORY OF ONE GROUP OF CHILDREN. 

3. SUMMARY. 

E. FEEBLE-MINDED AT LARGE IN THE COUNTY. 

I. In the Public Schools. 

1. METHOD EMPLOYED IN THE SCHOOL ROOM. 

2. NUMBER OF FEEBLE-MINDED IN THE SCHOOL POPULATION. DIS- 

TRIBUTION IN RURAL AND URBAN SCHOOLS. 

3. DEGREE OF RETARDATION OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED IN THE SCHOOLS. 

4. SPECIAL STUDY OF TWO DISTRICT SCHOOLS. 

5. SUMMARY. 

II. In THE General Population. 

1. NUMBER OF FEEBLE-MINDED AT LARGE IN THE COUNTY. 

2. SEX AND AGE OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED. 

3. NATIVITY AND RACE OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED. 

4. CONSANGUINITY'. 

5. DISTRIBUTION OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED IN RURAL AND URBAN DIS- 

TRICTS. THE RELATION OF INDUSTRY AND GEOGRAPHICAL 
CHARACTERISTICS TO DISTRIBUTION. 

6. CLASSIFICATION OF FEEBLE-illNDED ACCORDING TO DEGREE OF 

IMENTALITY. THE IDIOTS. 

7. ANTI-SOCIAL TRAITS OF THE IMBECILES AND ^klORONS. 

8. DEPENDENCY OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED. 

9. SUMMARY. 

F. DEFECTIVE AND DEPENDENT FAMILIES IN THElCOUNTY. 

I. The Hickory Family. 

1. GENER-\L DESCRIPTION. 

2. HAPPY HICKORY AND HIS DESCENDANTS. 

II. The D. Family. 

III. The S. Family. 

IV. The N. Family. 

V. Summary of Defective Strains. 

G. TOTAL NUMBER OF FEEBLE-MINDED IN THE COUNTY. 



P. Of ». 
MAY L» J«* 



MAIN POINTS OF THE SURVEY 



1. The county chosen for the Survey is in the hilly section at the 
southeastern part of the state, bordering the Ohio river. 

2. On February 15, 1916, there were 253 persons in the various 
state institutions from the county studied. Of this number under state 
control, 16% were known to be feeble-minded but less than 8% were in- 
mates of the Institution for the Feeble-Minded. 

3. It was estimated that 47% of the Infirmary population was 
dependent because of feeble-mindedness. Only 35% was dependent be 
cause of infirmity due to old age or illness. 

4. There was proportionately five times as much feeble-mindedness 
among the dependent children in the Children's Home as among the public 
school children of the county. 

5. Two district schools were found in each of which more than 40% 
of the children were feeble-minded. 

6. The proportion of males to females among the feeble-minded was 
as 3 to 2. 

7. The majority of the feeble-minded were descended from pioneer 
stock. 

8. The percentage of feeble-minded at large in the rural districts was 
double the percentage in the urban districts. 

9. Nearly half of the feeble-minded at large were being partially 
supported by the public. 

10. . Seventy-eight feeble-minded persons, or 13.5 % of the total feeble- 
minded population of the county, belonged to one family strain which has 
been called the Hickory family. 

1 1 . Four other families contributed 48 feeble-minded persons or 8.3 % 
of the total feeble-minded population of the county. 

12. Approximately 1% of the total population of the county was 
found to be feeble-minded. It is believed that this percentage would not 
apply to the whole state. Other surveys should be made of other repre- 
sentative parts of Ohio. 




Fig. I. Hank Hickory, known as "Young Hank", or "Sore-eyed Hank", member of a 
defective clan discovered in the county surveyed. "Young Hank" is thought to be 
about 70 years old and is partially blind as a result of trachoma. He has never 
done any work except to make a few baskets and has lived a wandering, make- 
shift life. He married his first cousin and so far as known had seven children of 
whom three, all defective, are now living. The number of his grandchildren and 
great-grandchildren is increasing every year. He, himself, is so feeble-minded that 
he cannot count his own children, nor can he name them without being prompted. 



THE FEEBLE-MINDED IN A RURAL COUNTY OF OHIO 



A. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTY 

It was determined to make a survey of a rural county in Ohio to dis- 
cover the extent and social significance of feeble-mindedness in that partic- 
ular part of the state. The county chosen as the subject of the survey is 
situated in what is known as the hill section bordering the Ohio River, 
and on July 1st, 1916, had an estimated population of 54,389. There are 
but two cities in the county, each of which has a population of between 
six and seven thousand. Along the bottom lands of the streams there is 
good farm land, but because of its rough surface the larger part of the 
county is not suitable for agricultural purposes. Coal mining is the prin- 
cipal industry of the county. 



B. METHOD OF INVESTIGATION 

The survey was begun March 1st, 1916, and carried on under the di- 
rection of Dr. Thomas H. Haines. The field work was completed on De- 
cember 20th, 1916. Information was sought in each township, first of all 
from the public schools, and then from the physicians and township 
trustees. The * county institutions were visited, and county and city 
officials, the one district nurse, the one social worker, and many private 
citizens were interviewed. When cases of feeble-mindedness were reported 
or discovered in the schools, their homes were visited and information 
obtained concerning their personal and heredity histories. This procedure 
frequently led to the discovery of other feeble-minded persons who were 
in turn followed to their homes. 

In general no formal psychological tests were given, but the suspected 
cases were judged on a sociological basis, with possession of ability or 
inability to maintain existence accepted as the essential difference between 
the normal and feeble-minded person. The definitions of the English 
Royal Commission of 1904 were adopted as the standard. (Tredgold's 
Mental Deficiency. First edition.) 

Idiots are persons so deeply defective in mind from birth or from an 
early age that they are unable to guard themselves from common physical 
dangers, such as in the case of young children, would prevent their parents 
from leaving them alone. 

Imbeciles are persons who are capable of guarding themselves against 
common physical dangers, but who are incapable of earning their own living 
by reason of mental defect existing from birth or an early age. 

The feeble-minded (in the United States known as morons) are persons 
who may be capable of earning a living under favorable circumstances, but are 
incapable from mental defect existing from birth or from an early age (a) of 
competing on equal terms with their normal fellows or (b) of managing them- 
selves and their affairs with ordinary prudence. 



The idiots were easily distinguished and set off in a class by them- 
selves, but it was more difficult to distinguish between the two higher 
grades of feeble-mindedness and between the moron and normal person. 
It was recognized that the environment into which a subject is born must 
be taken into consideration. There were many individuals who could not 
be considered defective in this rural county who would have been so had 
they been removed to a more complicated environment because they would 
not have been able to adjust themselves to the demands of the new life and 
would not have been able to maintain themselves. Also it was recognized 
that there are certain types of labor on farms, section gangs, or about the 
mines which do not require even an average grade of mentality. It is 
necessary in the life of a community that some one fill these places, and if 
the persons who were doing this were adequately self-supporting, they were 
not called feeble-minded. Therefore, those individnals were called imbeciles 
who were so scantily endowed with mentality that it was impossible for 
them to maintain themselves independently under any circumstances in the 
environment best suited to them, and those were called morons who pos- 
sessed certain sorts of ability but in such unequal proportion that they 
could manage their affairs and earn their own livings only under direction 
and that in an environment which made the simplest demands on them. 
Those who were inadequate for any other reason than lack of intelligence 
were not considered feeble-minded. 



C. FEEBLE-MINDED FROM THE COUNTY IN THE STATE 

INSTITUTIONS 

On February fifteenth, 1916, there were 253 persons in the various 
state institutions from the county studied. They were distributed as 
shown in Table 1 and are classified according to their intelligence so far 
as we are able to classify them. 

TABLE I 
Inmates of State Institutions from the County Studied 



INSTITUTION 



Total 



Feeble- 
Minded 



Institution for Feeble-Minded 20 

Girls' Industrial Home ' 8 

Boys' Industrial School 

Ohio State Reformatory 

Ohio Penitentiary 

Ohio Hospital for Epileptics 

State School for the Blind 

State School for the Deaf 

State Hospital for Insane 



41 



INTELLIGENCE 



Possibly 
Feeble- 
Minded 



Not 
Feeble- 
Minded 



1 
124' 
147 



Un- 
known 



57 



Total 



20 

17 

30 

16 

15 

17 

1 

9 

128 

253 



The girls in the Girls' Industrial Home, the one child in the State School 
for the Blind, and a part of the boys in the Boys' Industrial School had been 
given mental examinations, so the classification in those cases was made 
on the basis of those tests. Of the 128 people from this county in a State 
Hospital for the Insane, four had been diagnosed by the physicians as feeble- 
minded. When representatives of this county in the other institutions were 
classified as feeble-minded or possibly so, the classification was made on 
the basis of descriptions by reliable persons. 

Of the 253 inmates of state institutions from this county, 41 or 16.2 % 
were known to be feeble-minded, and 8 others or 3.1% were either border- 
line or suspected cases. Of the 41 known cases, only 20, or less than half, 
were in the Institution for Feeble-minded. This was not because they were 
not recognized as fit cases for that institution, but because there was no 
room to care for them. 



D. FEEBLE-MINDED IN THE COUNTY INSTITUTIONS 
I. The County Infirmary 

On the first of March, 1916, there were 67 inmates in the County In- 
firmary, of whom 46 were men and 21 were women. Each inmate was 
interviewed, his social history obtained and the cause of his presence in 
the institution ascertained. Formal psychological tests of intelligence 
were given in a few cases by Dr. Thomas H. Haines. 

1. NATIVITY OF INMATES 

Of the 67 inmates, 53, or 79%, were born in Ohio, and 6, or 8%, were 
born in other states, making a total of 59, or 88%, native born. The 
other 8, or 11%, were foreign born. Four inmates were born in the 
County Infirmary and had been in some institution all of their lives. 

2. MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CONDITION OF INMATES 

It was found that probably 32 individuals, or 47% of the whole popu- 
lation, were in the Infirmary because their mentality was so low that 
they were unable to maintain themselves independently in the community 
at large. Eleven individuals, or 16.4%, were there because they had so 
broken down their physical and mental health by the excessive use of al- 
cohol that they were no longer able to make their own way in the world 
at large. It is probable that at least some of these alcoholics could also 
have been classed as feeble-minded since their inability to keep from be- 
coming alcoholics may have been due to mental defect. Only 24 individ- 
uals, or 35.8%, were dependent because of some infirmity due to old age 
or illness. 



TABLE II 

Classification of Inmates of County Infirmary According 

TO Mental and Physical Condition 





Men 


Women 


Total 


Percent 
of Total 


Feeble-minded ... 


21 
10 
5 
5 
3 
2 


11 

\ 

5 

1 
2 


32 

11 

6 

10 

4 

4 


47.7 


Alcoholics 

Senile Dementia 

Old and Infirm 


16.4 

8.9 

14.9 


Blind 

Paralyzed or Crippled 


5.9 
5.9 






Total 


46 


21 


67 


99.7 



Of the thirty-two feeble-minded in the Infirmary, two were low grade 
idiots unable to do the slightest thing for themselves. Ten others, seven 
men and three women, were of such low mentality that they could perform 
only the most simple tasks and could under no circumstances earn their 
own livings. The remaining twenty, twelve men and eight women, were 
able to do manual labor if some one remained near to direct the work. 
These were the ones who found it easy to maintain themselves outside un- 
der the most favorable circumstances but sought shelter in the Infirmary 
as soon as some unfavorable condition arose. The superintendent said that 
the work he got out of these inmates was costly because some one had to 
be hired to supervise them and the quality of their work was very poor. 
There was only one of the forty-six men whom he could trust with a team. 
This man was paid five dollars a month for his services during the summer 
months. 

3. AGE GROUPS. SPECIAL DISCUSSION OF THE YOUNGER INMATES 

TABLE III 

Age Distribution of Infirmary Population 



Age 

15-20 years 

21-30 years 

31-40 years 

41-50 years 

51-60 years 

61-70 years 

71-80 years 

81-90 years 

Total 



Men 



46 



Women 



21 



Total 



3 

3 

9 

5 

16 

13 

13 

5 



67 



We were most interested in the younger members of this infirmary 
population since they were the ones who had potentialities for hving lives 
useful or detrimental to their communities. Fifteen members or 22 % were 

8 



found to be under forty years of age. Of these a boy of fifteen, imbecilic 
and deformed, was kept there rather than in the Children's Home because 
his mother was also an inmate. A boy of seventeen was a helpless idiot. 
A boy of twenty-one, high grade feeble-minded, was there because he had 
been accidentally shot through his own carelessness. He had been found 
living in an old tool house with his parents and a younger brother, all de- 
fectives. (See Figs. II and III.) This boy has since left the Infirmary and 
and is now living a nomadic, make-shift life. It is probable that the In- 
firmary will again be his home before many years. A fourth young man. 




Fig. II, Two Hickory shanties. The nearer one was occupied by an old mule and the 
further one by the family. The trash lying about was taken from the city dump 
which is within a hundred yards of the shanties and from which the family secured 
most of its food. 



twenty-two years old, was of average mentality but had alcoholic and va- 
grant habits and was criminally inclined. The preceding winter he had 
made his home in one of the city's sprinkling wagons stored for the season. 
He has since left the Infirmary. Of the five in the thirty-one to forty year 
group, one was a hopeless cripple from locomotor ataxia, the second was 
becoming blind as a result of syphilitic infection, and the third was becom- 
ing totally blind from cataracts. The other two were so feeble-minded 
that all attempts to earn their livings independently had failed, so they 
spent most of their time in the County Infirmary, but were free to go and 
come at will. Of these nine young men, seven will probably be dependent 
all the rest of their lives. One of the other two is now at large but should 



be permanently segregated because of his low mentality. Five of the nine 
were without doubt feeble-minded. 

We will now consider the women under forty years of age in the In- 
firmary. The youngest was a girl of nineteen, a low grade moron of bad 
sexual habits, who continually made trouble because of her attempts to 
approach the male inmates. (See history of a group of children in the 
Children's Home). A girl of twenty-one was in the Infirmary because she 
had been living as a common prostitute, became infected with syphilis and 




Fig. III. A closer view of the shanty shown in Fig. II which was occupied by the family. 
It was formerly a tool house, measured 6 x 10 feet, and contained a bed, a stove and 
a table. An imbecile man of about 45 years, his second wife, 21 years old, con- 
sidered about on a par with her husband in mentality, and two sons by a former 
marriage, 21 and 14 years old, lived in this shanty for over 3 months. The family 
was broken up when the oldest son, who had been accidentally shot, was sent to the 
Infirmary; the woman, who was pregnant, was sent home to her mother; and the 
other two told to move. The family has since been reunited. 

the authorities did not know what else to do with her. She was an at- 
tractive girl, very active, but with the mentality of a child of ten years. 
(See history of the D. Family). A woman of thirty-one had been in the Chil- 
dren's Home till nine years old and in the Girls' Industrial Home till sixteen. 
When eighteen years old, she was sent to the Infirmary where she had 
been ever since; but in the two-year interval of freedom she gave birth 
to an illegitimate child which died in infancy. She had the mentality of a 
nine-year-old child. A woman, thirty-three years of age, had been trans- 
ferred from another infirmary. She was a high grade moron and crippled 
physically. A woman of thirty-nine years was said to have once been of 
good mentality, but because of drink and exposure had broken down her 

10 



nervous system so that she was unable to take care of herself in the out 
side world. A woman, thirty-one years old, was of decidedly low mental- 
ity, probably an imbecile, with vicious habits. She had been in and out 
of the Infirmary at least five different times. On two occasions she was 
pregnant at the time of her admission and a third record reads, "Admit- 
ted with child". She has two children living, one the fifteen-year-old im- 
becilic boy described above, and the other an eighteen-year-old girl of some- 
what higher mentality but still in the defective class who was found to be 
developing the sexual characteristics of her mother. (See history of the 
S. Family). Five of these six women were feeble-minded and there was 
not one of them who would not be a decided rjienace to the community in 
which she was allowed her freedom; yet there was nothing beyond the in- 
fluence of the superintendent and matron to prevent them from leaving 
the Infirmary at any time they wished. 

4. IN.MATES FORMERLY IN THE INSTITUTION FOR FEEBLE-MINDED 

It was found that three inmates of the Infirmary had been transferred 
from the Institution for the Feeble-minded. One of these was a low grade 
imbecile kept with several of the lowest grade patients in a small house 
removed from the others. He could tell nothing about himself, so all that 
is known about him was taken from the Infirmary records. He was born 
in 1859 in the Infirmary where his mother, unmarried, had sought refuge, 
"destitute and pregnant". When he was three years old, his mother took 
him, left the Infirmary, and so far as known was not heard of again. The 
records do not give the complete story, but in 1888 this boy was sent from 
the County Infirmary to the Institution for the Feeble-minded, and in 1895 
was sent back. The remainder of his life can be spent only in some in- 
stitution where he can receive a child's care. 

Even less was known of the family of the second of these three. He 
was transferred from the Institution for the Feeble-minded to the Infirmary 
while still a boy and at the time of the survey had been living in the In- 
firmary about twenty years. He was in the habit of going at intervals 
to live with some woman of about his own calibre in the neighborhood and 
trying to support himself and her, but after a few months always came 
back. Once he got as far as Cincinnati, but was sent back by the authori- 
ties when he asked for aid. He was a good worker under direction, but 
spent all of the money he earned for candy and trinkets. 

The third former inmate of the Institution for the Feeble-minded was 
a woman, forty-nine years old, whom we shall call Sally, also born in the 
Infirmary of an immoral and probably feeble-minded mother. Sally's 
mother, Anne, was first admitted to the Infirmary when seventeen years 
old and stayed for seven years. She left the Infirmary in July and returned 
in September of the same year, pregnant. She gave birth to twin girls, one of 
whom was Sally, and left them in the Infirmary while she went out again into 



11 



the community. She soon had another child by a colored man which was 
later brought to the Infirmary and after several years transferred to the 
Institution for Feeble-Minded. This child remained there fifteen years and 
was then sent back to the County Infirmary, but she soon left the Infirm- 
ary, had an illegitimate daughter, and moved to another part of the state. 
Anne finally married and had a living daughter and a still-born child. It 
is not known what became of this daughter, but Anne died shortly after 
the birth of her last child. One of the twins left in the Infirmary died there 
when three years old. Sally, the other, was transferred to the Institution 
for Feeble-Minded when fourteen years old but was sent back again when 
twenty-nine years of age. The segregation in the Infirmary was not as 
complete as in the State Institution and after a time she gave birth to a 
mulatto child. He is now fifteen years old and has been an inmate of the 
County Children's Home since infancy. He is of borderline mentality and 
has a sneaking, deceitful nature. One can not help thinking what would 
have been saved the County and State if Sally's mother had been effectively 
segregated. 



5. FAMILY GROUPS IN THE INFIRMARY 

An important phase of an Infirmary population is the presence of family 
groups. In this particular County Infirmary there were several, and in 
looking over the old records it was found that those family names occur- 
red all too frequently. There were three pairs of cousins, two sisters, a man 
and wife; but the most interesting were two groups of four. The first, 
which we will call the N. Family, consisted of a feeble-minded man, his son, 
a victim of locomotor ataxia, an imbecile nephew and a feeble-minded 
niece. Some time was given to looking up the family history of this group 
and it was found that in three generations, sixteen members of the family 
had at some time made their home in the County Infirmary. Of these six- 
teen, at least nine were feeble-noinded. The superintendent said that he did 
not think there had ever been a time in the history of the institution when 
some member of this family was not an inmate. A complete description is 
given of the N. Family in the section on defective and dependent families. 

The second group of four consisted of a feeble-minded girl, her cousin, 
this cousin's son, and her step-great grandmother. All four of this group 
were feeble-minded and all three women had been notoriously immoral. 
The two younger were girls of the street and the older woman, for a time, 
had kept a house of prostitution, but her mentality was so low that she 
could not, successfully manage the business and so was ending her days in 
the Infirmary. Twelve members of the family had been in the County 
Infirmary. 



12 



6. SUMMARY 

1. A large proportion of the population of this County Infirmary, 
(47%), was dependent because of feeble-mindedness and not because of old 
age or infirmity. 

2. Fifteen inmates or 22% of the Infirmary population were under 
forty years of age. Ten of these were feeble-minded and unable to earn 
satisfactory livings or conform to moral standards when outside of the in- 
stitution. Yet the superintendent had no authority to prevent them from 
leaving the Infirmary at any time they wished. 

3. Several inmates had made a practice of leaving the Infirmary at 
intervals, only to return after a few weeks. One feeble-minded woman 
had been admitted five times. On two of these occasions she was preg- 
nant. Both of her children were feeble-minded and one was a deformed im- 
becile who will be dependent on the public all his life. 

4. Two of the most important family groups in the Infirmary, 
members of which had been inmates through several generations, were 
found to belong to feeble-minded strains. 

II. The Children's Home 

1. FEEBLE-MINDED LN THE HOME 

During the winter of 1915-16, 93 children in the Children's Home were 
given formal intelligence tests by Mr. Charles E. Skinner who very kindly 
placed all of his material in the hands of the investigator. 

Dr. Thomas H. Haines visited the same Children's Home on December 
18th and 19th, 1916, and made mental examinations of 25 of the 101 
children then in the home. The 25 children were chosen by the matron 
as possibly feeble-minded. Of these ten, or 9.9% of the total population of 
the Home, were found to be feeble-minded. When one compares this with 
the proportion of public school children in the county found to be 
feeble-minded, it appears that there was five times as much feeble-minded" 
ness among the dependent children of this county as among the children 
in the public schools. 

Attempts were made to secure family histories for the feeble-minded 
children in the Home, but in most cases this was unsuccessful because of 
the death or disappearance of parents. In a surprising number of cases, 
one or both were still living; but many of them, free from tlie responsibility 
of caring for their children, were living more or less unsettled lives and so 
were difficult to locate. What information was obtained from the 
superintendent of the Home, township trustees, and distant relatives seemed 
to point towards the fact that, although some were there because their 
parents were dead, most of thepi had been sent to the Home because of 
alcholism, sexual immorality, or some instability of character on the part 
of one or both parents. 

13 



2. FAMILY HISTORY OF ONE GROUP OF CHILDREN IN THE H0:ME 

The most interesting group of children in the Home for whom a 
complete history was obtainable was one consisting of two sisters, a 
brother and a niece. The sisters tested feeble-minded but the brother 
was of low normal intelligence. The niece, only four years old, was 
decidedly backward in development. She was the illegitimate child of the 
oldest girl in the fraternity of seven. This girl, 20 years old, is now an 
inmate of a State Hospital where her case has been diagnosed as dementia 
praecox. She was transferred to the Hospital from the Infirmary where 
she had been taken in November, 1915 with her second illegitimate baby, 
then only a few days old. The child was blind as a result of gonorrheal 
infection and died at six weeks. It is asserted that the girl's father was 
also the father of this child. The second in the fraternity was a 19-year- 
old girl in the County Infirmary, undoubtedly feeble-minded and so 
immoral sexually that she had to be watched constantly. The third and 
fourth in the fraternity, girls of seventeen and fourteen, were inmates of 
the Girl's Industrial Home where they were sent for immorality. The 
older of these was an imbecile with the mentality of a six-year-old child 
but the younger possessed low normal intelligence. Both were given 
intelligence tests on their admission to the Girl's Industrial Home. The 
other three children in the fraternity were the three in the Children's 
Home. 

The mother of this fraternity died in 1914 in childbirth. She was 
slovenly and inclined to hysterical attacks. Definite information bearing 
on her mentality could not be obtained, but it was evidently much below 
the average in her family, for her people were in general respected citizens 
of good intelligence. She had two alcoholic brothers, an insane half-sister 
and two cousins, one insane and one epileptic. 

The father of the fraternity was a man almost forty-five years old. 
He never got out of the primary grades in school and by the time he was 
eighteen years old was a hard drinker of whiskey, used tobacco to excess, 
and was known to have immoral sexual habits. He was considered 
mentally defective by many people, but others insisted that he was a good 
farm hand and worked well in a section gang. However, he had never 
been able to support his family adequately. When interviewed he showed 
a decided tremor of the hands, and at intervals the perspiration would 
start out on his forehead. He was unable to marshal his ideas in good 
order, gave detached pieces of information, and was more apt to answer 
some previous question than the one just put to him. 

He had had a brother who was said to have been like him. This 
brother was the father of the seventeen-year-old idiot in the County 
Infirmary. A sister had a daughter who seemed intelligent but was a 
deaf mute. The mother of the two brothers and sister was sexually 
immoral as a young woman, but was not defective mentally. 



14 



The unusual thing about this family was that every one of the seven 
in the fraternity was being cared for by the public and although four of 
the seven were feeble-minded, not one of the four was in an appropriate 
institution. And unless room could be found for them at the Institution 
for Feeble-minded, three of them would be turned back into the community 
at the expiration of certain age limits.* 

The problem of the feeble-minded child in the Children's Home is a 
serious one which in the past has been badly neglected. Feeble-minded 
children have been placed in families, unwittingly as a usual thing, but 
nevertheless negligently, or else they have been discharged as having 
reached the age limit. On a later page will be found an account of some 
feeble-minded adults who were placed out from county homes as children 
and the harm they have wrought in their communities. An effort has 
recently been made, however, to determine all feeble-minded in this 
Children's Home by means of psychogical tests, and to have them removed 
to the Institution for the Feeble-minded. 

3. su:mmary 

1. At least 9.9 percent of the population of the Children's Home in 
this county was feeble-minded. 

2. Proportionately five times as much feeble-mindedness was found 
among the dependent children in the Children's Home of this county as 
there was among the public school children of the same county. 

3. An attempt has been made to determine the feeble-minded chil- 
dren in this Children's Home and have them removed to the Institution for 
the Feeble-minded. 



*The two feeble-minded sisters and their niece have recently been committed to the Institution for 
Feeble-minded from the Children's Home, but the sister with the six-year mentality at the Girls' In- 
dustrial Home was paroled. After a few months, the report came that she was causing trouble by 
her activities in the vicinity of the National Army Camp. She was returned to the Industrial Home, 
found to be pregnant, and is now in a hospital awaiting the birth of her baby. 



15 



E. FEEBLE-MINDED AT LARGE IN THE COUNTY 
I. In the Public Schools 

1. METHOD EMPLOYED IN THE SCHOOL ROOM 

In the rural districts of the county 247 teachers were interviewed in 
166 school buildings, and in the two cities, 50 teachers were interviewed 
in 6 different buildings, making a total of 172 schools visited and 297 
teachers interviewed, or practically every grade teacher in the county. 

The general method employed was the choosing from the school reg- 
ister names of children three years or more retarded in their work. Each 
one of these, together with others suggested by the teachers as particu- 
lar problems, was individually considered. Inquiry was made concerning 
ability in the principal mental functions, such as motor co-ordination, 
perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning ability. Anatomical anom- 
alies and facial expression were noted and the developmental history 
obtained whenever possible. Information was obtained concerning the 
child's activity on the play ground and behavior with his playmates, and 
it was determined whether he had some particular ability along a practical 
line which was not brought out by the influence of the school room. In 
short, all his reactions were considered with the question always in mind 
as to whether he had sufficient mental equipment to keep him up to the 
level of the demands of the community in which he would probably spend 
his life, and to make it possible for him to maintain an independent ex- 
istence. 

2. NUMBER OF FEEBLE-MLNDED IN THE SCHOOL POPULATION. 
DISTRIBUTION IN RURAL AND URBAN DISTRICTS 

Judged on this basis, 164 children, or 1.8 percent of the total school 
population were found to be feeble-minded and 77 other cases, because of 
possible further development, were classified as borderline. Of these 164 
cases, the larger proportion were found in the country schools. As shown 
in Table IV, 2.1 percent of the children in the rural schools were found to 
be of defective intelligence while only 0.8 percent were found feeble-minded 
in the city schools. 

TABLE IV 

Distribution of Feeble-Mujded School Children in Rural 
AND Urban 'districts 





Number of 
Children 
Enrolled 


Feeble-minded 


Total 


Percent of 
Total Enroll- 
ment 


Borderline and 


DISTRICT 


High 
Grade 


Low 
Grade 


Suspected 
Cases 


Urban 


2002 
6928 


9 
86 


8 
61 


17 
147 


0.84% 
2,1 % 


8 


Rural 


69 


Total 


8930 


95 


69 


164 


1.83% 


77 







16 



An attempt has been made to divide these feeble-minded children into 
two classes, high and low grades, though it is recognized that any 
division made in the absence of formal tests is entirely arbitrary. Those 
classified as low grade are those who will probably never be able to take 
care of themselves in any sort of environment, while those classified as 
high grade are those who will be able to take care of themselves, after a 
fashion, when conditions are most favorable, but who nevertheless will 
always need some wiser hand to guide them. 



3. DEGREE OF RETARDATION OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED IN THE SCHOOLS 

TABLE V 

Feeble-minded in Public Schools by Grades and Ages 

Showing Amount of Retardation 





Ages 




Grades 


6 
Yrs. 


7 
Yrs. 


8 

Yrs. 


9 
Yrs. 


10 
Yrs. 


11 
Yrs. 


12 
Yrs. 


13 
Yrs. 


14 
Yrs. 


15 
Yrs. 


16 
Yrs. 


17 
Yrs. 


18 
Yrs. 


Total 


1 

2 


1 


4 


11 


10 
5 
1 


8 

7 


10 
10 

1 
2 


5 
11 

7 
2 

1 


3 
6 

8 
4 
1 


3 

7 

10 
4 
1 


1 
4 
2 
5 
1 


1 
1 
2 
1 
.... 




.... 


57 
52 


3 








32 


4 








18 


5 












4 


6 .. 














1 


























Total.. 


1 


4 


11 


16 


15 


23 


26 


22 


25 


13 


6 


.... 


2 


164 



Table V shows the one hundred and sixty-four feeble-minded children 
arranged according to their ages and school grades. The sixteen-year-old 
boy in the sixth grade was in the grade because of his age and not be- 
cause of his ability. He had been unable to absorb the subjects taught 
since he reached the fourth grade. When fourteen years and four months old 
he tested nine' years old mentally by the Yerkes-Bridges Point Scale. The 
twelve-year-old boy in the fifth grade had not been able to learn to read 
and would forget what he learned from day to day. His teacher said 
that he should have been put back in the second grade. He had a speech 
defect, his manner was surly, and he would seldom talk except with those 
he knew very well. The thirteen-year-old girl in the same grade could do 
nothing in arithmetic and was dull in all other subjects. She had a per- 
fectly blank expression and when left to herself would walk aimlessly 
about the room. She was recognized by her mother as defective. The 
fourteen-year-old boy could do nothing in subjects requiring reasoning 
ability and was very poor in memory work. : ^ He had in addition several anti- 
social habits already developed. Neither could the fifteen-year-old boy do 
the work of the grade. He liked to draw and passed in papers decorated 
with carefully drawn borders but the general quality of the work he did 

17 



2F M 



was poor. His uncle said that he was ''no good to work" and his school- 
mates refused to play with him because of his sluggishness and peculiar 
behavior. So that whereas the usual child who has advanced to the fifth 
grade or beyond must have enough mental ability to take care of himself 
in the world, these five children, although graded in the upper grades, had 
neither the ability to do the work of the grades nor would they ever be 
able to adequately take care of themselves. 

In the same way, for the usual six or seven-year-old to be graded in 
the first grade is not out of place, but the six-year-old in Table V was 
feeble-minded by psychological test and the four seven-year-olds were de- 
cidedly defective. One of them did not walk until he was four years old 
and at seven years had a vocabulary of very few words. He was a 
mouth breather, although both his adenoids and tonsils had been removed. 
And it seemed impossible for him to concentrate on any one thing for 
more than a few seconds at a time. The remaining three all had serious 
speech defects and although in their second years in school, had made no 
progress. One of them did not understand when spoken to and could not 
even go in the direction he was told to go. Another one of these did not 
know how to play with other children but stood about on the play ground 
disinterestedly watching the others. The teacher said of the third pupil 
that although he had been in school two years he was not yet able to rec- 
ognize the letter "a" when he saw it. So that we seem justified in calling 
these four seven-year-olds feeble-minded. 

If it were possible to give descriptions of all of the children here clas- 
sified as feeble-minded, no doubt would remain as to their mental defect. 
Not one of them should have been in classes with normal children, but 
rather in special classes or in an institution where they would be receiving 
suitable training and, as they grow older, be properly segregated. 



4. SPECIAL STUDY OF TWO DISTRICT SCHOOLS 

It early became evident that the feeble-minded children were not dis- 
tributed evenly through the schools of the county. Certain districts had 
a much larger proportion than others. A special study was made of two 
district schools located in different townships where a large proportion of 
defectives was found. Each child in the two schools was given a psycho- 
logical intelligence test by Miss Alida C. Bowler, Mental Examiner of the 
Bureau of Juvenile Research. A revised Binet-Simon Year Scale was used 
for the younger children and the Yerkes-Bridges Point Scale for the older 
ones. 



18 



TABLE VI 
Children in School A by Grade, Age, and Mentality 





School 
Grade 


1 Girl . . 


I 


2 Girl . . 


I 


3 Girl . . 


I 


4 Boy . . 


I 


5 Boy . . 


II 


6 Boy . . 

7 Boy . . 


II 
III 


8 Girl . . 


III 


9 Boy . . 


IV 


10 Boy . . 


IV 


11 Boy . . 


IV 


12 Boy . . 


IV 


13 Boy . . 


VII 



Chrono- 
logical 
Age 
Yrs. Mos. 



POINT SCALE 



Points 



Mental 
Age in 
Years 



YEAR 
SCALE 



Mental 
Age in 
Years 



CM. A. 



DIAGNOSIS 



GENERAL FACTS 



5- 7 
5 

6-10 
9 



12 

14- 7 



12- 2 

10- 5 
9- 2 
13 
15- 2 

14 



48 



45 



46 
49 

Not 



8.5 



8.3 



8.3 
8.5 



tested 



? 
4.9 
6.4 
7.2 
7.5 



9.2 
8.6 



? 

.72 

.71 

90 

.62 
,59 

.58 

.88 
.93 
.58 
.59 



Not feeble- 
minded 
Borderline 

Borderline 

Feeble-minded 

Not feeble- 
minded 
Feeble-minded 
Feeble-minded 

Feeble-minded 



Not feeble- 
minded 

Not feeble- 
minded 

Feeble-minded 

Feeble-minded 



Not feeble- 
minded 



Sister of Nos. 3 and 6 
Cousin of No. 11 
Sister of Nos. 2 and 6 
Cousin of No. 11 
Brother of No. 7 
Belongs to Hickory Family 



First cousin of No. 11 
Brother of No. 4. Thiev- 
ing habits. Belongs to 
Hickory Family 
Confused at all but simp- 
lest questions. Has been 
in Children's Home 
Has imbecilic half-sister 



First cousin of Nos. 2, 3 
and 6 

Epileptic. Older sister 
feeble-minded. Mother 
epileptic. Marriage of par- 
ents forced when father 
17 years old 



In school district A there were thirteen children enrolled. Table VI 
gives in detail the grades, ages, and ratings of the thirteen children ac- 
cording to the tests given. The coefficient of mental ability (C. M. A.) is 
obtained in each case by dividing the score made by the child by the av- 
erage score attained by children of that age in an ordinary school popula- 
tion. It is really the rating expressed in terms of percentage. The four- 
teen-year-old boy in the seventh grade was absent and so was not tested, 
but according to the testimony of his teacher was of normal intelligence. 
Definite mental ages could not be obtained for the two-five-year-olds because 
of their shyness, but a diagnosis was made of the basis of their behavior 
and the performance of part of the tests. 

District A was one of the earliest mining villages in the county, but 
the mine has been exhausted for several years and most of the inhabitants 
have moved where there is better opportunity for employment. Four of 



19 



the nine families represented in this school were receiving township aid. 
The results of the tests in district A are summarized as follows: 



Feeble-minded 6 

Borderline 2 

Normal 5 

Total 13 



46% 

15^^ 
38% 

99% 



TABLE VII 
Children in School B by Grade, Age, and Mentality 





School 
Grade 


Chronological 
Yrs.^Mo. 


POINT SCALE 


YEAR SCALE 


C.M.A. 






Points 


Mental Age 
in Years 


Mental Age 
in Years 


DIAGNOSIS 


1 Girl 

2 Boy 


I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 
I 

II 
II 
II 
III 
III 
III 
III 
III 
III 
III 
IV 
IV 
IV 
IV 
IV 
IV 
IV 


7- 7 

6 

6 

6 

6 

8 

9 

8 -6 

8 

6 

9 

9+ 
11 
14 

11- 3 
10 
13 

9-11 
11- 
11- 4 

13- 1 
15? 

14- 3 
13 

10- 2 
14- 2 

14- 1 
13- 5 
13- 5 

15- 9 
15- 2 




"57"" 
21 
44 
46 

64' 
63 
62 
59 
44 
46 




7. 

5.2 

6. 

5.2 

4. 

6. 

7.6 

6.4 

V 

6.+ 
6. 

7. 

6. 

7.8 

6. 

8. 

8.8 

9. 

7.8 


.93 
.86 
1.00 
.86 
.66 
.75 
.80 
.75 
.67 
.66 
.66 
66 
.63 
.42 
.69 
.60 
.61 
.88 
.81 
.69 
.71 
.25 
.54 
.58 
.91 
-.79 
.77 
.78 
.74 
.52 
.56 


Not feeble-minded 
Not feeble-minded 


3 Girl 

4 Boy 

5 Bov 




Not feeble-minded 
Not feeble-minded 
Borderline 


6 Bov 


Borderline 


7 Boy 


Borderline 


8 Girl 


Borderline 


9 Boy 


Feeble-minded 


10 Boy 

11 Gfrl 


5.8 
8.2 
8.3 

"10.7 

10. 

10. 

9.5 

8.2 

8.3 


Feeble-minded 
Feeble-minded 


12 Girl 

13 Girl 

14 Boy 

15 Boy. 


Feeble-minded 
Feeble-minded 
Feeble-minded 
Borderline 


16 Boy 

17 Girl .... 


Feeble-minded 
Feeble-minded 


18 Boy. . 


Not feeble-minded 


19 Boy 


Not feeble-minded 


20 Girl 


Borderline 


21 Boy 


Borderline 


22 Girl 




Feeble-minded 


23 Boy 




Feeble-minded 


24 Boy 




Feeble-minded 


25 Girl 

26 Boy 


9.2 


Not feeble-minded 
Not feeble-minded 


27 Boy 


Not feeble-minded 


28 Boy . . 




Not feeble-minded 


29 Boy 

30 Girl .... 




Borderline 
Feeble-minded 


31 Boy.... 


Feeble-minded 







In district school B, thirty-one children were examined aged from six 
to sixteen years, none of whom had been able to get beyond the fourth 
grade in school. Several of these children did not know their own ages 
and because of the impossibility of conducting all of the tests without dis- 
turbance from other members of the school, exact mental ages could not 



20 



be secured in all cases. The detailed grading of the thirty-one children is 
shown in Table VII and the summary of the results is as follows: 

Feeble-minded 13 42% 

Borderline 8 26% 

Normal 10 32% 

Total 31 100% 

District B differs from district A in that it is a rural community with 
the homes set at a distance from each other, located in a remote valley be- 
tween two high ridges. Many of the inhabitants own small tracts of land 
worth little for agricultural purposes, and work in the mines. The families 
in the valley have seldom mated with families in other communities, but 
as yet there have been no consanguineous marriages. 

Nos. 9, 14, 17 and 22 in Table VII, all feeble-minded, were brothers 
and sisters. All four had speech defects and not one of them could tell 
his age or anything about himself. No. 22 had such poor motor co-ordi- 
nation that she walked with difficulty. No. 14 had a small low head and 
prominent ears. Neither of these two children had made the slightest prog- 
ress in school. No. 17 made the best appearance of the four, but none of 
them were profiting in any way by the ordinary school subjects which the 
teacher was attempting to teach them. They belonged to a fraternity of 
ten, one of whom died at six years. A younger child not yet in school had 
a serious speech defect. An older brother, eighteen years old, who accord- 
ing to his own father was not as bright as he should be, was in the Boys' 
Industrial School where he had been sent for driving his mother out of the 
house at the point of a gun while drunk. Another brother was married 
but was entirely unable to provide for himself, to say nothing of his wife. 
"He never could learn", and was a heavy drinker. An older sister who 
was said to be of fair intelligence had married a man from the same valley, 
and an older brother was working in another county. The father of this 
family was a periodic drinker who became dangerously insane when drunk. 
His mentality was low, he was very pompous and talkative, had a narrow 
forehead, sunken temples and the general appearance of an alcoholic. He 
was said to have been a good worker when sober. His wife belonged to 
one of the valley strains, was a high grade defective and had a speech de- 
fect. 

Nos. 23, 24 and 30, all feeble-minded, and Nos. 5, 7, 8, and 20, all bor- 
derline cases, belong in the same fraternity. All of these children would 
steal little things in the school room such as pencils or lunch from the boxes 
of the other children, and the three oldest had uncontrollable tempers. No. 
30 would become so angry that she would make herself physically sick. 
This girl also showed a strong sex instinct. There had been fifteen in the 
whole fraternity of whom fourteen, ranging in age from twenty-five to three 
years, were living. There seemed httle doubt that the four older brothers 
and an older sister were all high grade feeble-minded. The boys were all 
drinkers and the girl had an illegitimate baby. Both parents were rough 

21 



looking specimens, were drinkers and petty thieves. It was said of the 
father/*He gets in jail every time he goes to town". He worked irregularly 
in the mine but supported his family largely from his garden and what town- 
ship aid he could secure. The mother was of a lower grade of mentality 
than he, though both may be classed as high grade defectives. Both were 
sullen and quarrelsome with uncontrollable tempers. They were bringing 
up their children to be thieves and drunkards and with no idea of restrain- 
ing their own desires or regard for the rights of others. Their three room 
house was occupied by eighteen people. Neither parent was in any way 
related to the other families in the valley. 

Nos. 12 and 16, both feeble-minded, were brother and sister. No. 16 
could not speak plainly, stuttered, was very slow and could not keep his 
attention on any one thing for long. His sister did not appear so defect- 
ive but accomplished practically nothing in school. Their father was pass- 
ably intelligent, but their mother was feeble-minded and had been a bad 
character. She had an epileptic brother, and No. 21, classified as of bor- 
derline mentality, was her half-brother. Another half-brother in the same 
school. No. 18, proved to be of normal intelligence. 

Nos. 11 and 13, feeble-minded sisters. No. 28, a borderline case, and 
No. 2 a normal boy were first cousins of the mother of Nos. 12 and 16 on 
their father's side. Their mother was of fair intelligence but their father 
was of defective mentality, alcoholic, and a thief. He would not be able 
to make a living if it were not for the help of his mother's pension- No. 
13 had an unsteady gait and could not seem to hold anything in her hand. 
Her head twitched constantly and she would never play with the other 
children. 

No. 10, a feeble-minded boy, belonged to another defective strain. 
He was not a bad looking child but could understand only the simplest 
questions. His father had an imbecile sister and his mother had a brother 
who was an epileptic idiot with a cleft palate. Both families were living 
in the valley. The men in his mother's family were all heavy drinkers 
and his grandfather was shot while on a drunken spree. His great-grand- 
father died insane and his great-grandmother, who was still living, belonged 
to a weak-minded strain which had lived on the ridge bordering the valley 
under discussion for many years. She had two low grade imbecile nephews 
about forty-five years old, a feeble-minded sister who had two imbecile 
children sixteen and twenty years old, and an idiot grand-child, living near 
her. This child, No. 10, had two cousins, Nos. 25 and 26, one on her 
father's side and the other on her mother's, in the same school but both 
seemed to be of good mentality. The mother of one of these belonged to 
the same family as the father of Nos. 11, 13, 28 and 2. 

No. 31, a high grade feeble-minded boy, was not related to any of the 
other families in the valley and had lived there but a short time when the 
tests were given. Nothing was learned of his family history except 
that his father was of German extraction. Neither were the four brothers, 



22 



Nos. 4, 6, 15 and 27, two borderline cases and two normal, connected in 
any way with the families of the valley. The same is true of the four re- 
maining children, all of whom tested normal. 

There were twelve family names in this school of thirty-one children. 
The nine children just describisd, but one of whom was feeble-minded, 
belonged to five different families and may be set aside as in no way con- 
nected with the other groups. The remaining twenty-two children had 
seven family names, each one of which stood for a defective strain. And 
members of five of these families had married back and forth freely. 



5. SUMMARY 

1. One and eight tenths percent (1.8%) of the school population 
of the county studied was feeble-minded. 

2. In the rural districts of the county two and one tenth percent 
(2.1%), and in the cities eight tenths of one percent (0.8%) of the school 
population was feeble-minded. 

3. Certain districts had larger proportions of defectives than others 
as shown by the special study of two district schools where over forty 
percent of the school population was found to be feeble-minded. 



23 



11. Feeble-minded in the General Population 

1. NUMBER OF FEEBLE-MINDED AT LARGE IN THE COUNTY 

There were found at large in the county 494 feeble-minded persons, in- 
cluding school children, or 9.0 feeble-minded persons to every thousand of 
the whole population. Three hundred and seven of these were seen by the 
field worker and in the cases of the remaining 187, reliable descriptions of 
behavior were obtained so that there was full justification of the diagnosis. 
Over two hundred homes were visited in the course of the investigation 
and many suspected cases interviewed which did not prove to be feeble- 
minded. Cards with a short social and heredity history of each of the 
494 feeble-minded are on file at the office of the Bureau of Juvenile Re- 
search in addition to which there are 496 other cards with similar infor- 
mation on the inmates of the county institutions and such anti-social per- 
sons or probable cases of feeble-minded as were brought to the attention 
of the field worker. If a system is ever perfected by which the state can 
exercise control of the feeble-minded at large, or if the time comes when at- 
tention is paid to the heredity of applicants for marriage licenses, this index 
will be invaluable. 



I 



2. SEX AND AGE OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED 

TABLE VIII 
The Feeble-minded Arranged by Age and Sex 



AGE 



Under 6 years 
6 to 10 years 
11 to 15 years 
16 to 20 years 
21 to 25 years 
26 to 30 years 
31 to 35 years 
36 to 40 years 
41 to 45 years 
46 to 50 years 
51 to 55 years 
56 to 60 years 
61 to 65 years 
66 to 70 years 
71 to 75 years 
76 to 80 years 
81 to 85 years 

Total 



Males 


Females 


6 


5 


60 


30 


73 


47 


29 


21 


28 


17 


17 


15 


15 


13 


19 


10 


18 


8 


12 


6 


9 


8 


7 


3 


3 


4 


2 


1 


3 


2 


1 


1 


1 






303 


191 



Total 



11 

90 

120 

50 

45 

32 

28 

29 

26 

18 

17 

10 

7 

3 

5 

2 

1 



494 



As shown in Table VIII, the total number of feeble-minded at large 
in the county was found to consist of 303 males and 191 females. The 
proportion of males to females is approximately as 3 to 2. 

It will be seen that the age-groups 6 to 10 years and 11 to 15 years 
contain a larger number of defectives than any other groups. This is 

24 



probably largely due to the fact that children of those ages, because of 
their presence in the public school, were surveyed more carefully than it 
was possible to survey the whole population. The number under six years 
is small for two reasons; that only the more serious forms of defect may 
be recognized in young children, and also that the cases of such young 




Fig. IV. A defective mother and son. When their house was visited, the mother paid no 
attention to the visitor, but wandered aimlessly about the three rooms, muttering 
to herself, and at times trying to shoo the chickens out the kitchen door. Mean- 
while, the son, a low grade imbecile, 27 years old, was peeking around the edge of 
the door at the field worker. Another son, an idiot, was at that time an inmate of 
a State Hospital, but has since been discharged as not insane. Three other children 
worked at manual labor, but, although over thirty years of age, had never been 
able to support themselves independently. The oldest daughter and the husband 
could not be called defective, although both had a low order of intelligence. 

children are not so apt to be generally known. From the 11 to 15 years 
age-group on, there is a gradual decrease in the number in each group. 
This can be explained by the probability that defectives who have no one 
to care for them and have not found some position in life where their ef- 
forts to maintain themselves can be guided, have either died in the natural 



25 



process of elimination of the unfit or else have been sent to institutions 
before reaching the more advanced ages. It is important to note that lar- 
ger numbers are included in the childbearing ages between fifteen and 
forty-five years than in the ages beyond forty-five years. 



3. NATIVITY AND RACE OF THE FEEBLE-IMINDED 

In regard to the nativity of the 494 feeble-minded persons, 457 of them 
were born in Ohio and 371 of these, or 75 % of the total number were bom 
in the county in which they are now living. Only 17 were bom in other 
states. In 18 cases no record of the place of birth was obtained. But 
two of the feeble-minded persons were foreign born, and both came to 
America as small children. Seven persons were the native-born children 
of foreign-born parents and eleven others had one parent foreign bom. This 
makes a total of 18 who were native-born of foreign or mixed parentage 
or 3.6% of the whole number of defectives. According to the 1910 census 
9.2 % of the population of the county were of foreign or mixed parentage 
at that time. The same census gives 5.3% of the population of the county 
as foreign born, while only 2 'of the 494 feeble-minded persons or 0.2% 
were foreign bom. So that feeble-mindedness was much less common 
among the foreign born and those of foreign and mixed parentage than it 
was among the native population in this county. 

Thirteen of the 494 persons were negroes. In 1910, 2.6% of the 
population of the county were negroes and thirteen is just 2.6% of 494. 
So that there was no bigger proportion of feeble-mindedness among the 
negroes in this county than among the whites. 

The county was settled in the pioneer days first by families from New 
England and later from Pennsylvania and New York. The families of a 
large proportion of the defectives now in the county can be traced back 
to the pioneers from these states. The progenitor of one bad strain was 
brought to Ohio as a servant in the family of one of the pioneers. 

Another group, not so large, came from West Virginia stock. Some of 
these families, however, stayed in West Virginia only a few years in the 
course of their transit from the eastern states to Ohio. Another group, 
smaller yet, had come into the county more recently from Kentucky to 
work in the mines. Therefore, neither the negro race nor recent immi- 
gration could be blamed for the large number of defectives in the county, 
but rather the deterioration of the native stock or else the perpetuation 
of the mental defects of the old stock. 



4. CONSANGUINITY 

In general there did not seem to be a large amount of consanguinity in 
the county except in the Hickory family of which a description is given 
on a later page. In 55, or 11% of the cases, there existed some consan- 

26 



guinity in the parents. In three cases the parents were father and daughter, 
in one case brother and sister, in five cases double first cousins, in twenty- 
six cases first cousins, in seven cases first cousins once removed, and in 
thirteen cases second cousins. 



5. DISTRIBUTION OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED 

TABLE IX 
Distribution of the Feeble-Minded in Rural and Urban Districts 





Estimated 
Population. 
U. S. Census 
July 1, 1916 


FEEBLE-MINDED 


Percent of 

Total 
Population 


DISTRICTS 


Moron 


Imbecile 


Idiot 


Total 


Rural 


40,921 
13,468 


295 
52 


107 
19 


'I 


420 
74 


.010 


Urban 


.005 






Total 


54,389 


347 


126 


21 


494 


.009 



Table IX shows that the feeble-minded were just twice as numerous 
proportionately in the country as in the city districts. Competition is not 
so high in the country and defectives can live in shanties where they will 
not have to pay any rent or in some hut in the woods or back on the hills 
where there is little interference with their primitive mode of life. They 
gather wood from the hillsides or else use bone coal, discarded at the 
mines, for fuel. One such family burned the rail fences on the farm where 
they were ''squatting", much to the anger of the owner. Food is also 
easier to procufe in the country when one has no money to buy. 

TABLE X 
Distribution of Feeble-Minded in County by Townships 





Estimated 

Population 

U. S. Census 

Bureau July 1, 

1916 


FEEBLE-MINDED 


Percent of 


Townships 


Moron 


Imbecile 


Idiot 


Total 


Total 
Population 


1 

2 


1,042 
1,123 

12,850 
1,326 
1,189 
980 
4,835 
985 
1,128 
1,474 
9,876 
1,688 
3,138 

12,755 


5 

3 

48 

12 

9 

5 

43 

6 

6 

12 

105 

13 

18 

62 


2 
1 

14 
3 
4 




7 

4 

63 

17 

13 

5 

55 

9 

9 

20 

157 

16 

27 

92 


.006 
.003 


3 


1 
2 


.004 


4 

5 

6 


.012 
.010 
.005 


7 

8 

9 

10 

11 


11 
1 
3 
6 

45 
2 
8 

26 


1 
2 

2" 

7 
1 
1 
4 


.011 
.009 
.007 
.013 
.015 


12 

13 

14 


.009 
.008 
.007 


Total 


54,389 


347 


126 


21 


494 


.009 



27 



Table X shows the distribution of the feeble-minded in the' variou- 
townships of the county. Township 11, almost exclusively a mining com- 
munity, had the biggest proportion of feeble-minded, 15 to every thousand. 
There are in the township two good sized villages and numerous small 
mining villages. It is the township where the geographical barriers are 
greatest and what is probably resultant, it is the home of the Hickory 
family, a prolific and highly inbred family of defectives. Forty-eight 
feeble-minded members of the Hickory family were found living in this 
one township. 

Townships, 4, 5, 7 and 10, all of which had a proportion of defectives 
higher than the average for the whole county, are all mining centers with 
the exception of No. 10. This township has two mining villages in the 
northern part, many poor farms and a few good ones through the central 
part, and very steep hills entirely unsuited for agriculture in the south- 
ern part. The proportion of defectives in township No. 10 was 13 
to every 1000, nearly as large a proportion as in township 11. Township 
No. 4, which had the next highest proportion of feeble-minded, 12 to every 
1000, has quite as steep hills as township 11. Township 7 also included 
members of several Hickory families. Township 14 is of the same geo- 
graphical character and is a mining center as well, but the largest city in 
the county is situated there, so the proportion of defectives for the town- 
ship as a whole was not as low as it might otherwise have been. Town- 
ships 7, 11 and 14 include the greater part of the mining industry of the 
county and the three together had a proportion of 11 feeble-minded to 
every 1000. 

Township No. 2 which had the smallest proportion of defectives, 3 to 
every 1000, is a prosperous agricultural community where the best land in 
the county for farming purposes is situated. Townships 1, 6, 8 and 9 are 
the other good agricultural districts and none of them showed a proportion 
of feeble-minded higher than the general proportion for the whole county. 
When the feeble-minded found in the five purely agricultural townships are 
added together, the proportion is 6 to every 1000 of the population, a little 
more than half as many as were found in the mining districts. The ex- 
planation is probably that the mines are situated in that part of the county 
where the physical barriers are greatest, thus limiting selection of mates 
and so lessening the chances of eliminating the defects already existing in 
the families living in these districts; also that the feeble-minded find it 
easier to exist in the mining districts than in the agricultural, because there 
are large tracts of land belonging to the coal companies which they occupy 
sometimes for a small rent and very often for no rent at all; because they 
are allowed to work in the mines just when they feel so inclined; and also 
because a high grade feeble-minded man can work in the mine under the 
direction of his brother or father and earn more money than he can on a 
farm. 



28 



6. CLASSIFICATION OF THE FEEBLE-MIXDED ACCORDING TO DEGREE OF MENTALITY 

Tables IX and X have classified the feeble-minded according to their 
grade of mentality. Twenty-one of the 494 feeble-minded persons were 
idiots of whom the youngest was four years old and the oldest thirty-two. 
All were heavy burdens on their families because of their entire lack of 
ability to care for themselves. One, a boy of four years, was a hydroce- 
phalic whose parents had tried to have him committed to the Institution 
for the Feeble-minded but were told that there was no room. This child's 
mother also had to care for her sister, a low grade imbecile, who had 
never been committed to an institution because of sentiment for their 
mother who requested that she never be sent away from home. Conse- 
quently two other apparently normal children in the family were receiv- 
ing scant attention, as their mother's time was completely taken up with 
the care of the two defectives and cooking for several farm hands. The 
heredity history of this hydrocephalic idiot is interesting. His head was 
unusually large and he could not raise it from the pillow. He was also 
subject to convulsions. He had a normal twin, a girl, and a normal older 
sister. Both parents seemed to have average intelligence. The father 
had an alcoholic, epileptic brother. The mother had the imbecile sister 
above spoken of, a brother who was a successful lawyer, and another 
brother of fair mentality who had married a colored woman. The mother's 
father had had a brother who died at thirteen years of "some sort of fits", 
and a hydrocephalic cousin who, they stated, lived to be fifty years old. 
The mother's mother had a feeble-minded cousin and a niece who was a 
moron and grossly immoral. 

The only other one who was different from the ordinary idiot was a 
male, twenty years old, whose intelligence was so low that he could not 
take anything in his hand, could not raise his head, could not pronounce 
even the simplest syllable. (See Fig. V.) His mentality was no higher 
than that of a new-born baby. His body was badly twisted and emaciated, 
and he was less than four feet long. The only movement of which he was 
capable was rolling his head and uttering a weak little cry. His father 
had been a full blooded negro and his mother was half white, a quarter 
Indian, and a quarter negro. It is very probable that this creature's con- 
dition is due to congenital syphilis, although the story that the mother had 
been terribly beaten and kicked by the father two months previous to the 
child's birth was given credence by one physician. The mother was re- 
ceiving frequent township aid and thought she ought to receive a mother's 
pension. She did not know and had never been told of the existence of 
the Institution for the Feeble-Minded. 

Two of the idiots were also epileptic and one of these had a cleft 
palate. 

From the social standpoint the idiots are of little importance because 
they are too helpless and have too small minds to do any harm in the com- 
munity. 

29 



In Tables IX and X those school children who are classified as low 
grade are included as imbeciles and those classified as high grade are put 
with the morons. There were found in the county 126 imbeciles, all en- 
tirely unable to earn their own livings because of their mental defect, and 
347 morons who were able to exist under the most propitious circumstances 
but were unable to maintain themselves satisfactorily without guidance. 





1 


1 t Jh^^^^^H 


li''-^ 





Fig. V. Male idiot, 20 years old, and his mother. He cannot do the slightest thing for 
himself, but has to be cared for like a new-born baby. His mother had never 
heard of the Institution for Feeble-minded and when told about it, was pitifully 
hopeful that her son might be admitted, so that she could go out to work. She 
was being partially supported by township aid. Her other children were self- 
supporting. 



7. ANTI-SOCIAL TRAITS OF THE IMBECILES AND MORONS 

TABLE XI 
Imbeciles and Morons Showing Anti-Sociai. Traits 





IMBECILES 




MORONS 




Men 


Women 


Total 


Men 


Women 


Total 


Epileptics 

Alcoholics 

Sex offenders ; 


3 
1 
2 

1 


4 
■■5" 

2 


7 
1 
7 
1 
1 
3 


10 
28 

9 
33 

5 

5 


5 
5 
43 
2 
4 
3 


15 
33 

52 


Criminals 


35 


Wanderers 


9 


Syphilitics 


1 


8 






Total 


8 


12 


20 


90 


62 


152 







The imbeciles and morons are those who endanger the social health 
of a community. There were 20 imbeciles and 152 morons who possessed 
traits already developed which made them undesirable members of the or- 
dinary community. All of the others might be called potentially undesir- 
able, for the feeble-minded as a class lack good judgment and are easily 
influenced. Seven imbeciles and 15 morons were also epileptic and for 
that reason alone unfit to be at large. Following are some individual cases 
of imbeciles and morons who exhibited anti-social tendencies, presented as 
they were originally reported. An attempt has been made at classification 
but it is evident that there is much overlapping. 



ALCOHOLICS 
Case 1 — Male, 36 years old. Moron. Left school at 15 years. Then in second grade. Cannot 
write. Constant smile. Childlike responses. Works irregularly in mine. Hard drinker. In court for 
fighting and drunkenness. Steals and bootlegs. Dependent on township. Has wife and two children. 
Oldest child is feeble-minded. 

Case 2 — Female, 47 years old. Moron. Never went to school. Cannot read or write. Smokes and 
chews. Drinks, fights, and carouses. Begs on the streets. Has a terrible temper. Married. Has had 
seven children, one a low grade imbecile, two others feeble-minded, one child who looks bright, one dead, 
and two others away from home. 

Case 3 — Male, 40 years old. Moron. Went to school several years, but cannot read or write. 
Shifting eyes. Narrow head. Can work only under direct supervision of a boss and then is unsatisfactory. 
Hard drinker. "Tough." Recently shot in a drunken row with another man over his wife. Has had 
eight children. Three died in infancy, two are feeble-minded and another is borderline. Two others are 
away from home. 

Case 4 — Male, 46 years old. Imbecile. Small brain space. Protruding ears. Constant silly smile. 
Never went to school. Cannot read or write. Understands only simplest questions. Seldom tries to work. 
Drinks when given opportunity. A physician said of him, "He exists, not lives. He hasn't mind enough 
to live." Supported largely by the township. Is father of at least one child. 

SEX OFFENDERS 

Case 5— Female, 25 years old. Low grade imbecile. Asymmetrical face. Went to school two 
years. Cannot read or write. Cannot tell about her mother or fraternity. Cannot dress herself without 
help. Does not understand an ordinary conversation. Does not know enough to support herself in any 
way except by prostitution. Lived three years in an immoral house in another county. Lived in one 
several months in this county. Begs and solicits on the streets. Had an illegitimate child bom dead. 
INIarried a feeble-minded man who left her. Now living on charity. 

Case 6 — Female, 18 years old. Low grade imbecile. Never allowed to go to school. Sways from 
side to side. Family was forced to move from another town because girl was so often seen on street with 
several disreputable men following her. Has a two-months old baby whom she has tried to kill. 

31 



Case 7— Female, 36 years old. INIoron. Can read, but not write. Very talkative. Told all her 
most intimate affairs with greatest simplicity and childlike trust. Could not tell ages of her children. 
Once cleaned all shanties in a small mining village and took turns living with the various men while she did 
it. Has had six children, two born dead, two died in infancy, two now living, older feeble-minded, younger 
possibly so. Married twice. * 

Case 8 — Female, 15 years old. IMoron. In second grade at 13 years. At that time tested 8 years 
old mentally in test given by school superintendent. Dull, drowsy, awkward. Inflamed and discharging 
eyes. Bad sexual habits. Acquired syphilis. Parents of school children object to having her in the 
public school. 

Case 9 — Female, 20 years old. Imbecile. Defect thought to be due to scarlet fever. Can go to 
the store on errands. Mother had a man arrested for rape on her, but girl testified it was done with her 
consent, so man was discharged by court. Parents would send her to Institution for the Feeble-Minded if 
sh^ would be admitted. 

Case 10 — Female, 30 years old. Moron. (Cannot carry on a conversation. Works at scrubbing 
ana cleaning. Is away from home for days at a time. Often spends the night beside the railroad tracks 
and sayij she has been with as many as sixteen men in one night. Says she has been married four times, 
but is divorced from each husband. Has had three children. Two died in infancy. One living is bright. 

Case 11— Male, 33 years old. Imbecile. Cannot read or write. Stunted growth. Asymmetrical 
face. Does no work. Complains that he can find no one to marry him. Neighbors do not allow their 
wives and daughters alone on the roads near his shanty because he has attacked several women. No one 
has ever tried to put him in an institution. 

CRIMINALS 

Case 12 — Male, 31 years old. Moron. Is generally spoken of as "a natural thief". Steals any- 
thing he lands whether he has any use for it or not. Has "ugly spells" and vicious sexual habits. Abso- 
lutely unreliable. Generally considered defective. Moves frequently. Married a feeble-minded girl and 
has two children. 

Case 13— Male, 30 years old. Moron. Never got beyond the first grade in school. Always 
plagued by his schoolmates. Works in mine. Could not make a living for himself before he was married. 
Now has wife and three children. Lives mostly on township aid and private charity. Steals little things 
such as wood, eggs, vegetables, etc. 

WANDERERS 

Cases 14 — Female, 28 years old. Probably a moron. Wanders about Southern Ohio, living with 
various men in old shanties. Has been known to live in a cave. Appears in her father's home every few 
months. Said by all who know her to be a low grade feeble-minded person. Has had three children whose 
whereabouts are unknown. 

Case 15 — Male, 20 years old. 'Moron. Tramps through river counties, staying in "hobo camps." 
Appears periodically in his home town. Is used by the Chief of Police in tracing gangs and hidden loot. 
Will tell all he knows for a quarter. Is generally recognized as defective. Is known that he steals, but 
has never been convicted. 

SYPHILITICS 

Case 16— Female, 30 years old. Moron. Never been to school. Could not add four and thirty. 
Stunted growth. Sexually immoral. Dirty. Syphilitic abcess on back. Inflamed and discharging eyes. 
Has a 12-year-old daughter in Ohio Hospital for Epileptics. 

Case 17— Male, 62 years old. Moron. Can read print, but not writing. Cannot write. Makes axe 
handles. A petty thief. Receives township aid. Says he has had scrofula since a young man, but this !s 
probably syphilis. Has running sores on his legs. Is lame. Has had two sons, both feeble-minded and 
supported in Children's Home. One showed evidence of congenital syphilis. 

8. DEPENDENCY OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED 

The very nature of feeble-mindedness viewed from the sociological stand- 
point implies dependency. In some cases in the county the burden of sup- 
porting the feeble-minded person was borne by the family or some relative 
but in a large number of cases the public had to bear either all or a part of the 
responsibility. Two hundred and thirty-five or 47 per cent, of the 494 cases 
of feeble-minded found at large were being or had been partially supported by 
the public. 

32 



TABLE XII 

PUBLIC SUPPORT OF THE FEEBLE-MINDED q^^^^^ 

Had been resident in State institutions 11 

Received pensions ,. 7 

Had been resident of County Infirmary 18 

Had been resident in Children's Home 15 

Had been in county jail or workhouse 11 

Received county aid 2 

Received township aid 140 

Received private charity 16 

Begged on the pubHc streets 15 

Total 235 

Seven feeble-minded individuals in the county received pensions. Two 
were soldiers' and one soldier's widow's pensions. One was a mother's pension 
and three were "blind" pensions. The woman receiving a mother's pension 
had three children but was "not fit to take care of them" in the opinion of 
the township physician. She also received aid from the school board and the 
township trustees. Her oldest child was defective and the other two were 
decidedly backward in school. 

The 11; 9 men and 2 women who had been in the county jail or work- 
house were committed for drunkenness, petty thieving, or non-support, and in 
two cases for contributing to the delinquency of their children. 

Of the eleven who had been in State Institutions, two were in the Insti- 
tution for Feeble-Minded, two in the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics, four in the 
Boys' Industrial School, two in the Girls' Industrial Home, and one in the 
Ohio State Reformatory. Descriptions of some of these cases follow. They 
are presented as originally reported. 

Case 18— Female, 23 years old. Probably an imbecile. Was taken from Institution for the Feeble- 
Minded by her people after fifteen months residence, "because she was not getting any better." Reached 
second grade in school. Likes to play with little children. "She cannot even wash dishes or sweep a 
fioor." In fall of 1916 had an illegitimate baby by a feeble-minded epileptic living near their home. 
Child had a hare lip and died at two months. Family have now moved to get away from the feeble- 
minded epileptic. 

Case 19 — Male, 33 years old. Moron. Discharged from Institution for Feeble-Minded after seven 
years residence at request of mother. Is physically deformed and can do no harm in the community. 

Case 20— Female, 33 years old. Moron. Reached fourth grade at fourteen years. In Girls' In- 
dustrial Home as a girl. On her discharge married a man thirty years older than she, alcoholic and 
reputed "not bright." They have lived in a constant state of drunkenness and carousing. "Men of all 
classes, niggers, tramps, and all," visit their house for immoral purposes. A company of men and boys 
once took her to an upper room in a saloon where she danced, nude, before them all. Had a child soon 
after her marriage whose father was not her husband. The husband, however, proudly declares that he 
treats this child quite as well as he does his own. They had two children, one of whom they smothered 
while drunk. The conditions were reported to the Juvenile Court. The two boys were taken to the 
Children's Home and the parents sent to jail for a hundred days. The older boy was soon sent to the 
Boys' Industrial School for incorrigibility. He would steal, was unmanageable, and would "look at you 
innocently and tell the most awful lies." He was in the second grade at eleven years and is probably a 
high grade moron. His younger brother was given a mental test in the Children's Home and proved to be 
feeble-minded. In May, 1916, the older boy was paroled and sent back to his own home. When the 
field worker visited the home both parents were so drunk that they had difficulty in sitting up long enough 
to answer the few questions which they were capable of understanding. There was no food in the house, 
nothing but whiskey, which was freely given to the boy. It is difficult to see what had been gained by 
the jail and reformatory sentences and why the boy was returned to his old environment where even a 
normal child could not possibly make good. 

Case 21— Male, 20 years old. Imbecile. Reached second grade in school. Old teacher's register 
says, "Promoted because of age." Evidences of congenital syphilis. Father says he had hydrocephalus 

33 

3 F M 



: i 



as a child, but was cured. Committed to the Boys' Industrial School for delinquency. Has since been 
discharged. Does not work. Hangs around village store and is made sport of by all the men and boys 
who frequent the place. 

Case 22 — Female, 55 years old. Rapidly deteriorating moron. Epileptic. Discharged from Ohio 
Hospital for Epileptics. All statements unreliable. Whining. Tries to keep house for her two children, 
but is unable to do it satisfactorily. Is supported by township aid and small earnings of her seventeen- 
year-old son. 

There were at least eighteen feeble-minded persons at large in the 
county who had been in the County Infirmary, and fifteen who had been in 
the County Children's Home. In practically every case, although at large, 
they were still living lives of complete or partial dependency. Four rather 
pitiful cases were found of feeble-minded adults who had been placed out 
from the Children's Home, and as they developed had proved to be 
feeble-minded, but the foster parents had become so attached to them that 
instead of sending them back to the Home, they assumed the burden of 
caring for them all their lives. A description of individual cases from the 
Infirmary and Children's Home follows: 

Case 23— Female, 68 years old. Moron. Was taken from Children's Home as a child by a good 
family, who adopted her. Proved to be feeble-minded, sexually immoral and a "tough character." Was 
well protected by her foster parents and is now being cared for by their estate. .Asymmetrical face, pro- 
truding tongue. Is becoming demented. 

Case 24— Male, 21 years old. Moron. Taken from Children's Home at seven years of age. Reached 
fifth grade at sixteen years, but never did satisfactory work. Had the habit of stealing little things from 
early childhood. Cruel to animals. Cowardly. Would work for few days for farmers, go off and spend his 
money for trifles, then come back to his foster home for refuge, or would send for money to come back 
on. Has never saved enough to buy his clothes. At the time of the visit was in County Jail awaiting 
trial for having stolen fifty dollars from his foster father. He left forty dollars untouched in the pocket- 
book. Has an unusually large head. 

Case 25 — Female, 42 years old. Moron. Has been in County Infirmary. When visited was living 
in a one room shack beside a country road with her son, also feeble-minded. Had been put out of a house 
as an undesirable tenant. "She keeps a bad house for the low-down trash of the community." Looks 
like a young girl. Is childishly curious about unimportant things. Has been arrested for drunkenness. 

Case 26— Female, 45 years old. Moron. Has been in Infirmary with her husband. Is notorious 
in the township as a loose character. Begs and e.xpects charity. Openly confesses to four illegitimate 
children, two of whom died in infancy. Of the other two, one is feeble-minded. Has two little children 
by her husband. Is dirty and disgusting in appearance. Says herself she is "no good with her head." 

Case 27 — Male, 50 years old. Imbecile. Husband of case 26. Had been twice in the Infirmary. 
Once ran away from there because other inmates told him there were spooks in his room. Proudly stated 
that he went to school until he was twenty-one and that he had studied arithmetic and geography. Anaemic. 
Paid no attention to investigator until spoken to several times. Would answer something foreign to what 
was asked him. He and his family are supported by his wife's oldest son and township aid. Does no work. 

Case 28— Female, 25 years old. Moron. In Children's Home as a child. Her oldest child, born 
when she was fifteen years old, feeble-minded. A second child, born in the County Infirmary, has been 
blind from birth. Is supported by her mother and township aid. Quarrelsome, begs, chews, smokes. One 
morning ran after a boy with a knife because he asked her for a chew of tobacco. Cannot read or write. 
Is generally reputed as "simple." 

Case 29 — Male, 27 years old. Imbecile. Twice in County Infirmary. Is probably syphilitic. 
Wanders about the township living in barns or shanties, eating fruit, berries and whatever he can easily 
pick up. He does whatever he is told. Boys play pranks with him, for instance, telling him to do certain 
things in church. Children are afraid of him. Attempt was once made to send him to the Insane Hos- 
pital, but was not accepted because not insane. 

Case 30— Male, 58 years old. Moron. Placed out from a Children's Home in New York. 
Splendid physique. Over six feet tall. Very small head. Works as a section hand. Generally considered 
"not bright." Tried to give the impression of being religious. Is the father of two children by two step- 
daughters. One is a deformed imbecile in the County Infirmary. Had three stillborn children by first 
wife. Now married second time. Syphilitic. 

34 



If these cases and all of the others at large in the county who have ever 
been in a state or county institution had been recognized as feeble-minded at 
the time of their admission and dealt with as such, the county would have 
been saved a great deal in actual expense given out in township aid and in the 
unestimated expense of bad influence and contaminated morals. 

TABLE XIII 

A Comparison of Amount of Township Aid Dispensed 
AND Number of Feeble-Minded 



TOWNSHIPS 


Population 


Average Amt. of Township 

Aid for 5 Yrs. from June 30, 

1911, to June 30, 1916. 


Amount of Aid 
Per Person 


Percentage of 

Population 
Feeble-minded 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 


1,042 
1,123 

12,850 
1,326 
1,189 
980 
4,835 
985 
1,128 
1,474 

9,876 
1,688 
3,138 

12,755 


$ 33.66 

33.42 

396.05 

161.46 

66.36 

23.44 

494.51 

15.95 

11.00 

130.32 

1,230.69 

50.76 

141.93 

1,419.12 


$ .032 
.029 
.030 
.121 
.055 
.023 
.102 
.016 
.009 
.088 
.124 
.030 
.045 
.111 


.006 
.003 
.004 
.012 
.010 
.005 
.011 
.009 
.007 
.013 
.015 
.009 
.008 
.007 


Total... 


54,389 


$4,208.67 


$ .077 


.009 



35 



I 




o 

o 

ft. 



i. 



<i 

c 

V 

t 



S^ H«, 



45 



0^ 






u 

o 

45 




36 



Table XIII attempts to show that there is a relation existing between 
the number of feeble-minded found at large in each township and the 
amount of township aid dispensed. Township 11, which had the larg- 
est proportion of feeble-minded, also gave the largest amount of township 
aid per person for a five-year period, an average of 12.4 cents per year to 
every person in the township. Township 10, which had the second largest 
proportion of feeble-minded, stood fifth in the amount of township aid 
given, but still had an average higher than that for the whole county. 
Township 4, which stood third in its proportion of defectives, stood second 
in amount of township aid. Township 7 stood fourth in both lists. Town- 
ship 14, which stood third in the amount of aid given per person, was ninth 
in its proportion of feeble-minded. This apparent lack of relationship can 
be explained by the fact that the township employs a physician at $300.00 
a year to care for the poor, and that one of the cities in the county is 
located in this township. Township 2 had the smallest proportion of de- 
fectives in the county and gave the third from the smallest amount of aid. 
Township 11 had 8.7 times the population of township 2, but gave 36.8 
times as much aid, or 4.2 times as much to each member of the population. 
And township 11 had five times as many defectives in proportion to the 
population as township 2. Township 9 gave the smallest, and township 8 
the second smallest amount of township aid. Both are prosperous agri- 
cultural communities and their feeble-minded were well cared for in their 
own homes. 

There is one important factor which must be considered in this con- 
nection. During the years 1914-15 and 1915-16, most of the coal mines 
in the county were idle because of strikes and later, difficulty in adjusting 
freight rates. Although the miners received benfits from the miners' 
union and were given work on the roads, many of them received town- 
ship aid, especially during the second year of their idleness. But when 
one considers the mining townships individually, two of them spent less 
for township aid in either year of the depression than they had spent in 
the year just preceding when industrial conditions were good. In the cases 
of two townships there were incomplete reports. Two other townships, 
one of which is entirely and the other partially a mining community, spent 
less the second year of the depression than they did the first, and in one 
of these cases the amount spent the first year exceeded the amount spent 
the previous year by only $33.00, and in the other case by only $20.00. 
But in township 11, the amount of aid given the second year exceeded that 
given the first year by $1,089.00, and exceeded the amount given in a 
previous normal year by over $800.00. It was commonly remarked in this 
township that many of the defective families, especially the Hickory family, 
lived better during the second year of the industrial depression than they 
had ever lived before. The agricultural communities were not affected 
by the industrial condition and the amount given in the five years was 
fairly constant. So it seems fair to conclude that since the industrial de- 

37 



pression did not have the same effect on the amount of township aid given 
in all of the mining communities, the difference must depend upon the 
character of the inhabitants of the township, and that in general those 
townships having a large proportion of feeble-minded have had to dispense 
a correspondingly large amount of township aid. 

9. SUMiNIARY 

1. There was 494 feeble-minded persons found at large m this county, 
or 9 to every 1000 of the whole population. 

2. The proportion of males to females was approximately as 3 to 2. 
The majority had not yet passed the child-bearing age. 

3. The greater number of the feeble-minded were descended from 
pioneer stock. 

4. Consanguinity cannot be blamed to any great degree for the num- 
ber of feeble-minded in the county. 

5. The feeble-minded were twice as frequent proportionately in the 
rural as in the urban districts. Geographical characteristics and indus- 
tries of communities influenced the distribution of the feeble-minded. 

6. The high grade feeble-minded were more numerous and more in- 
clined to be anti-social in their habits. 

7. A large proportion of the feeble-minded were dependent on the 
public. In general, communities having a large number of feeble-minded 
had to pay correspondingly large amounts of township aid. 



38 



F. DEFECTIVE AND DEPENDENT FAMILIES 
IN THE COUNTY 

I. The Hickory Family 

1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION 

In considering the defective families of the county, one which we have 
called the Hickory Family takes pre-eminence because of the fecundity of its 
members, the anti-social nature of their habits and mode of living, their 
utter dependency and the large amount of inbreeding which promises to 
perpetuate the defective traits. 

Sixty-two Hickory families were found living in the county of whom 




Fig. VI. A Hickory cabin in which Hved a man and his wife with their two young chil- 
dren. The man and wife, who were also second cousins, were both low grade de- 
fectives. They were not able to support themselves, but were being allowed to 
bring children into the world, who, according to established laws of heredity, could 
be nothing else than feeble-minded. 



forty-eight were centered in one township. Thirty-four of these Hickory 
families were visited in twenty-eight different houses, all of whom were 
found to be related and descended from a common ancestor who came to 
the colonies from a French port in the days preceding the American Revo- 
lution. He settled in the back woods of Pennsylvania and married an 
Indian squaw. They had seven sons and a daughter. The oldest son 
was killed by the Indians and the other seven children emigrated to Ohio 
about the year 1800 and settled near each other. The descendants of five 
of these children were found living in the county studied. The oldest of 

39 



the seven we have called Happy Hickory. He was considered the most 
worthless of the brothers, never worked except to make a few baskets, 
and felt no responsibility for his family. He was considered a shiftless 
no-account by his neighbors, and two older residents spoke of him as "not 
bright." There seems little doubt that he was feeble-minded. A chart 
has been made of his 401 descendants, on three hundred and nineteen of 
whom some information has been obtained. This chart includes many of 
the descendants of Happy's brothers and sister since there has been con- 
stant intermarrying, and practically all members of the family found in 
the county who were mentally defective. 

The attitude of the community in general toward the Hickories is a 
peculiar one. They have been ostracized to a great extent and it is 
generally remarked that one would have to be pretty low down to mix 
with the Hickories. But on the other hand, the community seems to take 
it for granted that the Hickories shall steal their corn and chickens, live 
on their land, beg from their doors. They seldom bring any of them 
before the courts for their lawlessness. Even the school officials do not 
force the Hickory children into school as they say they cannot learn 
anything any way. Their fathers had to bear the burden of supporting 
this defective "tribe" and they expect their children to have to do the same- 
They seem calloused and entirely passive to the situation. 

The township in which the larger part of the Hickory family was 
concentrated is No. 11, the one having the steepest hills and the most 
inaccessible ridges. The Hickory shanties are as a usual thing tucked 
away under the protection of a hill in some remote spot on land owned 
by the coal companies or on some corner of a man's farm where the land 
is worthless, but with very few exceptions in a place where no rent will 
have to be paid. Only two members of the family shown in the chart 
owned property. Where they have built their own homes, the more 
intelligent have built them of logs after the fashion of the pioneers; and 
those of lower intelligence of poles stuck together with mud aided with 
pieces of boxes, old shingles, strips of tin, or anything they can easily pick 
up, and these have sometimes been built directly on the ground with no 
floor. Only two of the homes visited could really be called clean. The 
majority were extremely dirty with tobacco juice all over the floor and an 
odor of filth in the air. 

Their food consists of whatever can most easily be obtained. They 
eat berries gathered by the women and turtles and ground hogs as well as 
larger game shot by the men. In former days they caught fish, but since 
the mines have been opened there are no fish in the streams. They steal 
or beg what they can and when the supply runs short, work for enough 
money to buy some salt pork and corn meal. They must often go hungry, 
and it is sometimes a matter of wonder to their neighbors how they 
exist on so little. 

There are distinguishing characteristics which every Hickory seems 
to bear and by which after one has known a few, the others may be rec- 

40 



ognized. When seen on the road they walk in single file, plodding stolidly 
along, the men leading. Their figures are bowed, their bodies and clothes 
are dirty and odorous; the men are grisly, the women disheveled. Traces 
of tobacco juice may be seen about the mouths and teeth of both men and 
women, and the eyes of many of them have a gray clouded appearance 
said by several physicians to be due to trachoma. 

The chief occupation of the Hickories is basket-making and the 
gathering of ginseng and yellow root. Some work as day laborers and a 
very few work in the mines. In general employers will not hire them 




Fig. VII. The shack built by a feeble-minded Hickory man for his bride. It stood for 
some time without a roof, until finally the bride's mother gave her son-in-law some 
money which she had earned taking in washings. He went to town to buy tarred 
paper, but got drunk instead. Finally, through the efforts of the mother-in-law, 
the. shack was roofed. The couple, however, stay there only occasionally, since 
they spend most of their time visiting relatives. 



because they "work one day and rest three", ''loaf on the job", and are 
apt to stop in the middle of the day, demand their pay, and go down 
town to spend it for tobacco and whiskey, of which both men and women 
use an excessive amount. Some of them are not satisfied with whiskey, 
but buy pure alcohol and mix it with carbonated water or "pop". 

The chief characteristic of the family is their utter dependency. The 
first inmates of the County Children's Home, when it was opened in 1878, 
were three Hickory children transferred from the County Infirmary. 
Officials say that there has never been a time in the history of the Chil- 
dren's Home when there have not been Hickory children as inmates. 
During the year 1916 there were nine children belonging to the family in 

41 



the Home. The name appears twenty-four times on the books since 1878, 
but it is the beUef of the field worker that the number is, in reahty, greater, 
since the records at the Home have not been carefully kept. From the 
testimony of the Hickories themselves, it appears that 20 of the direct de- 
scendants of Happy as well as 12 other relatives who appear in collateral 
branches, making a total of 32 Hickories, have at some time been in the 
Children's Home. 

The name first appeared on the Infirmary records in 1857, the year 
the Infirmary was opened, when Hank Hickory, Happy's oldest son, his 
wife and seven children applied for admission but were not allowed to stay 
by the directors. In the same year another Hickory was transferred from 
the County Jail where he had been confined a year as a pauper. He had 
formerly been in a State Hospital but had been discharged as incurable. 
The record reads, "Always partially an idiot in action but withal healthy, 
and can earn his living by proper attendance". He' remained in the In- 
firmary until his death fourteen years later and was buried by the County. 
Twenty-three of the direct descendants of Happy Hickory and 4 relatives 
in collateral lines, making a total of 27 Hickories, have been in the County 
Infirmary. More recently township trustees have refused to send members 
there except in extreme cases, because they have been too willing to go. 
Two members of this family were in the County Infirmary on March 1, 1916. 

The members of this family are seldom brought before the county 
courts, as they do not commit serious crimes. Since the general mentality 
of the Hickories is too low to permit any crime except petty thieving, and 
because of the lethargy of their neighbors, the cost of the family to the 
county in this respect is small. 

But the township where the larger number live every year bears the 
greatest part of the burden of supporting the Hickory family. During the 
fiscal year June 30, 1915 to June 30, 1916, thirty-four Hickory families in 
Township No. 11 were given township aid, some of them several times, the 
total amounting to two hundred thirty-four dollars and thirteen cents 
($234.13) in orders on stores and doctors' fees. The township trustees say 
that they are continually pestered by members of the Hickory family apply- 
ing for aid, but that the amount given in recent years is much less than it 
was formerly. Certain Hickories often try to get orders from two different 
trustees at the same time, holding one until the second is obtained and then 
presenting both at the grocery store. 

The second trait of this family which attracts attention is their habit of 
wandering. Most of them do not go outside of certain limits extending 
over three or four townships but within those limits go from one Hickory 
house to another, staying a short time in each place, or taking refuge in 
some tumble-down house, or even building a new shanty. The unmarried 
men and some of the girls seldom stay long in one place and the men with 
families move nearly as often. One family of five moved six times in as 
many months. They own so little personal property that there is little to 

42 



hamper their moving at any time they wish. In no case did any Hickory 
own a cow. Three men had horses and one an old mule. Chickens and 
pigs were seen at only two Hickory homes. 

The third most prominent characteristic of the family is the promis- 
cuity of their relationships. The men and women live together whether 
they are married or not, and often consider themselves married when no 
ceremony has been performed. They herd together, especially in the win- 
ter, under the most crowded conditions, men, women, adolescents and chil- 
dren all in the same room, and they sleep three, four, and five in a bed. 
One home was visited where 13 people were sleeping in one room and the 




Fig. VIII. A log and pole house built by a defective Hickory man and his sons. The 
house consists of one main room and a lean-to, and the only window is the one 
shown in the picture. This man and his wife had had fifteen children, of whom 
eleven were living. The whole family slept in the main room of the house. 



only sleeping accommodations visible were a double bed, a single bed and 
a crib. (See Fig. VIII.) The field worker asked where they found room 
to put a young girl who had come to visit them, and the mother replied 
that she guessed they could find room for her in somebody's bed. One can- 
not wonder that the younger generation grow up with no conception of 
sexual morality and that there are so many cases of illegitimacy. Mem- 
bers of the family were perfectly free to talk of sexual matters, often to a 
revolting degree. There were four Hickory women in particular for whom 
the name of common prostitute is altogether too good. They were little 
better than animals. The moral influence these women were exerting on 
their own children, on the various relatives with whom they lived at inter- 
vals, and on the community where they gathered groups of degenerates 
about them, as well as the physical harm in the spreading of venereal 
disease, cannot be estimated. Even the school children in the section 

43 



where these women hved knew their character and would call out taunt- 
ing remarks to them on the road. 

In 1915 a Hickory man was admitted to one of the State Hospitals and 
on his commitment papers the answer to the question, "Do any of the sub- 
ject's relatives suffer from mental disease?" is, "All relatives are feeble- 
minded." This of course is an exaggeration but when one has a complete 
picture of the habits and manner of living of the Hickories, it need hardly 
be said that a large number of them are feeble-minded. 



TABLE XIV 
Summary of the Descendants of Happy Hickory and His Wife 



Gener- 
ation 


F. 


P.? 


E. 


A. Sx. 


c. 


d. inf. 


d.yg. 


sb. ;NotF. Und^ 


Unk. 


2 


11 children 


2 
14 
48 
24 

1 

89 








1 

"2 
2 






2 

"9" 
9 


2 


2 


4 


3 
4 
5 
6 


52 grand children 

151 great grand children 

183 gr. gr. grand children 

4 gr.gr.gr. grn. children 


8 

5 
18 


2 


5 

4 


"2 
2 


4 
21 
33 


3 

21 

8 


55 
3 


16 
32 
30 




31 






. . . 
















401 descendants 


2 


9 


5 


4 


58 


20 


9 


34 


58 


82 



Table XIV shows the classification of the 401 descendants of Happy 
Hickory according to their defects. Eighty -nine of them are known to 
have been feeble-minded (F) and thirty-one others are suspected of having 
been so (F?). The two classified as epileptic (E) were not feeble-minded so 
far as known. Those classified as alcoholic (A), sex offenders (Sx), and 
criminalistic (C) are those possessing those traits who are not known to have 
been feeble-minded. Many of those who are classified as feeble-minded or 
possibly so, also possessed these traits. The number of those who died 
young (d. yg.) and in infancy (d. inf.) or were born dead (sb.) must in 
reality be much larger than shows here, as information on those points 
was hard to obtain except from the more intelligent and almost impossible 
to obtain for the older generations. Those classified as not feeble-minded 
(not F.) are those known to be not feeble-minded by personal observation 
or by description given and free, so far as known, from alcoholic, im- 
moral sexual, or criminalistic habits. Those classified as under ten years 
of age are those for whom diagnosis of mentality cannot be made at this 
time because of the possibility of further mental development. The un- 
known column (Unk.) includes those about whom no information was 
obtained because of the impossibility of getting accurate description, due 
in some cases to early death and in others to residence outside of the 
county. 

It will be seen that 89 or 22.1% of the whole number of descendants 
of Happy Hickory in five generations are known to have been feeble- 
minded and that 31 or 7.7 percent are suspected of having been so. Of 
the total number of descendants 87 or 21.8 percent did not reach an age 

44 



beyond 16 years, and 140 or 34.9 percent could not be classified because 
of lack of information or youth. That leaves 174 or 43.3 % of the de- 
scendants of Happy Hickory who reached an age beyond 16 years and 
about whom definite information was obtained. Of the 174, 51.1% were 
known to be feeble-minded and another 17.8% were suspected of have 
been so. 

There were found living in this rural county 78 feeble-minded Hick- 
ories, 43 men and 35 women, of whom 75 were direct descendants of 
Happy Hickory. Forty-eight of these, or 61 % , were residents of township 
number 11, and 14, or 18%, were in the adjacent township. No. 7. The 
rest were scattered through four other townships in the county. There 
were also living in the county 20 others, thirteen men and 7 women, who 
are classified as probably feeble-minded. 

As one reads the history one is impressed by the frequency with 
which tuberculosis is given as a cause of death, The lack of sanitation in 
their homes has a great deal to do with the prevalence of this disease. 
Physicians also told of epidemics of typhoid fever and diphtheria among 
the Hickories which it was impossible to check. In certain branches of 
the family trachoma is prevalent, and nothing is being done by physicians 
of the township to prevent the spread of this disease. 

A glance at the chart makes it obvious that many of the matings are 
consanguineous. Of 89 marriages shown in the chart, 50, or 56%, are 
cousin marriages of varying degree, and 39, or 43%, are marriages be- 
tween persons in no way related. This includes only those unions con- 
sidered by the Hickories as legal marriages'. The following is a table show- 
ing the degree of relationship in the 89 marriages. 



1 


Double first cousins 


10 


First cousins 


10 


First cousins once removed 


21 


Second cousins 


5 


Second cousins once removed 


3 


Third cousins 


39 


No relation 


89 


Marriages 



Ohio law says that persons nearer of kin than second cousins may 
not marry. If this law could have been enforced, 21 of these marriages 
would not have been. The probate judge in the county where these people 
live has often refused them marriage licenses on the ground of their re- 
lationship as well as their defect. But it is an easy matter to go into an- 
other state if they happen to feel that it is necessary to have a marriage 
cermony at all. Moreover they seldom know what relation they are to 
each other when they are asked. The reasons for so many cousin mar- 
riages are probably twofold. The first reason is that in their own stock 
they find the most congenial companions, and the second is that they are 
largely forced to marry each other for the simple reason that no one else 

45 



will marry them or have anything to do with them. When they do 
marry outside of the family, they marry some member of a weak strain so 
that the progeny usually shows weakness of some sort; but the way is op- 
ened for greater variation and if the outmating continues will doubtless 
in time bring the stock back to normal. But while nature is carrying on 
this slow process, the county is having to pay the cost of maintaining them. 
And so long as members of this defective strain continue to marry back 
into their own strain, we can hope for nothing else than more defectives. 
Old residents say that the present generation of Hickories is physically in- 
ferior to the older generation. And the people of the community, in giving 
constant financial relief and shelter in county institutions, although they 
are being humane, are also defeating nature's attempt to eliminate the 
unfit. 

A detailed history of Happy Hickory and his descendants follows with 
accompanying charts. It has been necessary to break up the original chart 
into 7 separate parts for the sake of greater simplicity. The reference 
numbers in the text refer to the individuals on the chart, the Roman nu- 
meral referring to the number of the chart and the Arabic numeral to the 
particular symbol. 

It need hardly be said that all names used are fictitious. . 



46 



2. HAPPY HICKORY AND HIS DESCENDANTS 

Happy Hickory was born in southwestern Pennsylvania about the year 1780 and emigrated to Ohio 
about the year 1800, where he took up forty acres of land bordering a creek. He was shiftless, and did 
not try to till his land, but spent his time hunting and fishing. He also served as a fifer in the war of 
1812. When he sold the last piece of his land to meet a debt, his wife, who had no patience with his 
shiftless ways, left him. He lived about in shanties until he became old and blind and then went to live 
with one of his children, at whose house he died when past, ninety years old. The only work he was 
ever known to do was to make baskets of hickory splits. Two old residents remembered him as "not 
bright." He was probably feeble-minded. His wife, also born in Pennsylvania, was more industrious than 
he and it was through her efforts that the family was provided for at all. Definite information concerning 
her mentality could not be obtained. She was remembered as a blind, childish old woman, feeling in the 
ashes for a coal to light her pipe. She died when about ninty-five years old. Neither she nor Happy 
could read or write and neither one knew his own age. 

Happy and his wife had eleven children, who, with their descendants, follow in the order of their 
birth. They were: I — Hank, ll—Becky, III — Maria, W—Sephronia, V — Jane, W—Anne, WII— Martin. 
Will— Susan, IX— Harriet, X— Sarah, Xl-Robert. 



m- 



J 



"v o Q .Si © Q. , — I /G 




O b 



KEY TO THE CHARTS 

A square indicates a male, a circle a female. 

A straight line connecting a square and a circle designates a marriage. If the line 
is broken the union is illegal. 

A perpendicular line dropped from the marriage line leads to the children of that 
marriage. 

Each individual has an index number to the right of the symbol. When an indi- 
vidual has married some one already on the chart, that is, married a relative, the second 
index number is found in parenthesis, the Roman numeral standing for the chart and the 
Arabic number for the index number on that chart. In such cases, the consort is omitted 
and the marriage indicated by a portion of the marriage line. The children of such 
marriages are found by referring to the second index number. 

The small solid black circle indicates a still birth. The other symbols and abbrevi- 
ations are as follows : 



F — Feeble-minded 

F ? — Probably feeble-minded 

A — Alcoholic 

B— Blind 

C — Criminal 

E— Epileptic 

I — Insane 

S — Syphilitic 

Sx — Sex offender 

T — Tubercular . 

W — Wandering or Roving 



b — Born 

d— Died 

m — Married 

d. yg — Died young 

d. inf. — Died in infancy 

Co. Inf. — County Infirmary 

Ch. H.— Children's Home 

W. H.— Work House 

Co. Jail — County Jail 

B. I. S. — Boys' Industrial School 

0. P. — Ohio Penitentiary 



47 



I~Hank, known as "Old Hank" (III). 
Described by an old neighbor as the most 
worthless one of Happy's children. Was en- 
tirely undependable, a liar and a petty thief. 
Was never known to work. Made baskets 
which he exchanged with the farmers for pro- 
duce. The story was told that he once made 
a half-bushel basket which was water-tight 
and carried it home full of whiskey. Was a 
hard drinker. A big man physically. Never 
wore a coat and even in winter went with his 
shirt unbuttoned. His chest was covered with 
long black hair. The records at the County 
Infirmary read, "Hank Hickory, his wife and 
seven children came to the County Infirmary, 
-August 5th, 1857. Were not admitted by the 
directors. They left August 10th, 1857." Hank 
died old at the County Infirmary. His wife 
(II 2) came from Pennsylvania. No descrip- 
tion of her was obtained. Hank and his wife 
had nine children: 1— Hank, 2— Jim, 3— Joe, 
4— Jane, 5— Jerry, 6 — Nancy, 7— Harry, 8— 
Frank 9 — George. 

1— Young Hank or "Sore-Eyed Hank" 
(113) was born about 1848. See Fig. 1) 
Cannot read or write. Cannot count his 
children. Could remember only five of 
them and told the field worker he had 
named eight. Is a drinker and a petty 
thief. Says he chews ten cents worth of 
tobacco a day. Never works except to 
make a few baskets. Spends his time 
wandering about the country. Makes his 
relatives support him. Has had sore eyes 
since a young man and has been partially 
blind for the last twenty-five years. Get^ 
a "blind pension" of five dollars per month. 
Has lived with his son's wife. Is a low 
grade feeble-minded person. Married Polh- 
Hickory (114, also IV 10), his first cousin. 
She kept a dirty house and spent most of 
her time wandering around out of doors. 
Took no care of her children. Died at 
about fifty-five years of pneumonia. Was 
probably feeble-minded. Polly and Hank 
had seven children. 

a— A daughter (II 20) died at 
nineteen of tuberculosis. 

b — Laura (II 21) went to school 
three years but could not learn. Could 
not read or write. Died at forty-five 
of tuberculosis. Feeble-minded. She 
married for her first husband, her first 
cousin once removed (II 22, also V18), 
an alcoholic. By him there were seven 
children of whom one (II 62) is defin- 
itely feeble-minded, and two others (II 
65, 66) probably so. The remaining four 
died early. She married a stranger for 
her second husband and had one son 
(II 73), bom in 1903. He has fair 
mentality. Her third husband was her 
first cousin once removed (II 24, also 
V16), a brother of her first husband, 
an alcoholic and a wanderer. By him 
there were three children, one of whom 
died in infancy. The other two are in 
another county. 




48 



c— A son (II 25), born about 1868. Can read print. Cannot write. Works at day labor, 
but does a poor grade of work. Is not often hired. Wanders from place to place. Crippled 
physically. Is the father of an illegitimate, feeble-minded son (II 77), born in 1904, at present 
an inmate of the Children's Home. Uses an excessive amount of tobacco. Married his second 
cousin (II 27, also V 35), a feeble-minded woman, but "ran her off" after a few days. Is a low 
grade feeble-minded person. 

d— A son (II 28) was killed by a train on a railroad crossing while bringing home wood. 
Probably feeble-minded. 

e— Rachel (II 29) born about 1871. She has a very low forehead and is small in stature. 
Feeble-minded. Is dirty and wears her hair loose. Is notoriously immoral and widely known as 
a beggar. Could not name all of her children and treated the subject as of small consequence. 
Makes baskets. Sometimes works out by the day, but cannot tell whether she is fully paid or not. 
Receive? frequent township aid. Has been in County Infirmary with three of her children. Had 
four illegitimate children (II, 78-81) by her second cousin (II 30, also IV 29), a feeble-minded 
man. Two of these died in infancy. A third died at seventeen of tuberculosis, and the fourth ran 
away with a circus. She married a feeble-minded, deformed man (II 31), and has had seven 
children (1182-88), four of whom died in infancy and one at ten years of tuberculosis. Her 
daughter, born in 1907, bears the marks of congenital syphilis and is probably feeble-minded. 
Her son, born in 1909, is a very dull child, probably feeble-minded. It is very likely that this 
woman has had other children than those named to the field-worker. 
f — A son (II 32) died in infancy. 

g — A son (II 33), lazy, immoral, "not ambitious enough to steal." Receives township aid 
Feeble-minded. Married for his first wife (II 34) his third cousin. She died of childbirth. He 
married his second cousin (II 35, also IV 36) for his second wife. She is of better intelligence 
than the average Hickorj' and reached the fourth grade in school. They have had four children; 
three boys and a girl (1190-93). The boys all use tobacco and the two oldest are four years be- 
hind their grade in school. They are all too young to be definitely called feeble-minded. 
2 — ^Jim (115), second child of "Old Hank", owns a small piece of land and a team of horses. 
Is a day laborer, "works one day and misses three." Has always been partially supported by the 
township. Is a thief and a schemer. Has a speech defect. Drinks to excess. Cannot read or write. 
Has been twice arrested for not sending his children to school. Said to be only a little higher in 
mentality than his brother. Hank. Married for his first wife his first cousin (II 6, also IV 11) Peggy, 
a sister of Polly, wife of "Sore-Eyed Hank." She was dirty, a poor housekeeper and probably feeble- 
minded. They had five children: 

a — A daughter (II 36). She keeps a fairly clean house. Was not interested in the field- 
worker's visit and left the house so no opportunity was afforded to talk to her. Does not look 
of good intelligence. She married her first cousin (II 37, also IV 35) , a man of fair mentality, 
but lazy. They have had six children, the oldest of whom (II 94), born in 1900, is a bright boy. 
The second, a girl, born 1902 (II 95), declares she is in the sixth grade at fourteen years, but 
looks and acts feeble-minded. The third child, a boy (II 96), born in 1909, seems bright. The 
fourth child, a boy (II 97), died at five years. This child was never able to walk and did not 
develop mentally. The fifth child, a boy (II 98), born in 1912, cannot walk and makes only a 
few sounds, although four years old. Feeble-minded. The sixth child is a baby girl (II 99), 
born in 1916. 

b — A daughter (II 38), born 1882. In Children's Home as a child. Now married. In 
another county. 

c — A son (II 39), died at twenty-two years of tuberculosis, 
d— A daughter (II 40) died at fourteen years of tuberculosis. 

e — A son (II 41) was never able to talk, but could walk. Probably an idiot. Died in a 
State Institution at fourteen years. 
Jim (115) married for his second wife a woman who was an inmate of the Infirmary (117). 
The story told was that she was pregnant by the Superintendent of the Infirmary and he paid Jim 
twenty-five dollars to marry her and take her away. The child, bom in 1893, bears the Hickory name, 
was in the Children's Home as a child, and is now an inmate of the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics. 
The evidence concerning the paternity of the child was verified by the record at the Children's Home. 
The woman is an alcoholic and sex offender. No description of her mentality was obtained. She and 
Jim have had two children. 

a — A son (II 42), born in 1898, died in 1916. He was poorly developed physically and was 
so feeble-minded that his defect was recognized by his own family. 

b— A son (II 43), born 1901. No description of him was obtained. 
3— Joe, third child of "Old Hank" (118), was unusually well developed physically, but had a 
speech defect and was a butt for jokes. Would only work for a day at a time when he was in im- 
mediate need of food. He was generally considered "not bright." Always suffered from "sore eyes." 
Was nearly blind the latter part of his life. Always lived in shanties on some one else's property. 
Died suddenly of apoplexy. He married his first cousin (119, also V12). They were refused a 
marriage license in their home county because they were both feeble-minded. His wife is a dirty 
housekeeper and is not considerd bright. They had three children: 

a— Julia (II 44). No description of her mentality was obtained. She married her first 

49 

4 F M . 



cousin (II 45, also II 50) and quarrels with him frequently. He is "not bright." Steals every- 
thing he finds loose and is sexually immoral. He has been run out of town for stealing chickens 
and is now serving a term in the workhouse for larceny. They have had four children who are 
now inmates of the County Children's Home. The oldest is extremely dull, and considered feeble- 
minded. The mentality of the other three was not ascertained. 

b— A daughter (II 46) is so defective that she cannot carry on a conversation. Married her 
second cousin (II 47, also V64), a feeble-minded man who has never been known to do a day's 
work. They steal their food and receive township aid. They live in a pole shanty on the property 
of the coal company. They have had three children, one of whom died in infancy. The other 
two are six and four years old. (See Fig. VT.) 

c— A son (II 48), is shiftless, unreliable, lives on charity and township aid. Works at 
irregular intervals for the coal company, but does not know whether he is paid the right amount 
of wages. The company keeps track of his giocery bill and the amount of wages due him. He 
went to school two years, but cannot read or write. He married his second cousin (II 49, also 
VH25), who "hasn't any better sense than he has." She was born in 1888, went to school two 
years, but cannot read or write. She is sexually immoral and she and her husband quarrel fre- 
quently. They have had five children; one of whom died in infancy and another at ten years 
of tuberculosis (II 107, 108). The other three children (II 109-111) are under ten years of age. 
4— Jane (II 10), fourth child of "Old Hank," was an epileptic and died while in an attack. 
Never married. 

5— Jerry (II 11), fifth child of "Old Hank," is entirely undependable. Wanders from place to 
place. "Is here today and there tomorrow." His mentality is said to be on a par with that of his 
brother, Hank. He married, but left his wife and went with another woman. They were put in a 
county jail, he for sixty days and she for thirty, but since their release are living together again. 

6— Nancy (II 14), sixth child of "Old Hank." No description of her was obtained. She 
married and had two children. 

a— A son (II 50), who married his first cousin, Julia (II 44). Description of them and their 
children is given under the history of Julia (II 44). 

b — Dave (II 51). A good worker, but a hard drinker. Killed by a train while drunk. 
^Married Jude Hickory (II 52, also V35), his second cousin, a feeble-minded woman, notoriously 
immoral and a tramp. By her there were six children, all of whom have been in the County 
Children's Home. The three oldest have been placed out. The youngest (II 117), born 1907, is 
feeble-minded. One of the others is of borderline mentality, and the sixth child is of norma) 
intelligence. 
7— Harry (II 16), seventh child of "Old Hank," died in the Civil War. 
8— Frank (II 17), the eighth child of "Old Hank," died early as the result of an accident. 
9— George (II 18), the ninth child of "Old Hank," is a good worker, but never gets ahead 
because he is a hard drinker. Cannot read or write, but is said to have better mentality than any of 
his brothers. He married his first cousin once removed (II 19, also IV 25). She is a hard drinker, 
ignorant and a poor housekeeper. They have had seven children: 
a— A daughter (II 53), is married, 
b — A daughter (II 54), married her second cousin. 

c— A son (II 56), works for a few days at a time and then spends the money he has earned 
getting drunk. Is living with his second cousin, a feeble-minded sex-offender. They are not 
married. 

d— A son (II 57), died at thirty-two of sugar diabetes. He always had an unusually big 
appetite and could eat enough for three or four people. He married his second cousin once re- 
moved (II 58, also III 28), and had one son about whom nothing is known. 

e— A son (II 59), born about 1894, is feeble-minded and has had epileptic attacks all of hi: 
life. A hard drinker. Cannot work. 

f— A son (II 60), died in infancy. 

g— A daughter (II 61, also II 67), was born in 1899. Is nothing more than a tramp. 
Wanders from one Hickory house to another, staying a few days at a time in each place. Im- 
moral. Cannot pronounce certain consonants. Chews and smokes. Has an illegitimate baby, 
born in 1916. The father of this child is her first cousin once removed. When the baby was 
about three months old they went outside of the state and were married. Her husband is probably 
feeble-minded. 

11— Becky (See Chart I), second child of Happy, married and settled in another county. No 
description of her or her children was obtained. 

Ill— Maria (IIIl), third child of Happy, married and had four children, about three of whom 
nothing is known (III 3-5). 

4— Pete (III 6), the fourth child, served in the Civil War and received a pension. Could not 
read or write. Was physically undersized. Farmers would not hire him because he needed such close 
supervision. His pension checks were always cashed by a grocer, who subtracted the amount due 
him for groceries and gave Pete the remainder. Pete was not able to figure out the amount of his 
bill and did not know how much was due him. He died in 1915. His first wife (III 7) was an 

50 



ignorant woman who died of tuberculosis. His second wife (III 8, also IV 4) was a feeble-minded 
woman who is generally known because of her imm.oral behavior. There were no children by her. 
By the first wife there were seven children: 

a — A son (1119), spent his childhood in a County Infirmary. Now lives in another county. 

b — A son (III 10). Unusually good physique. Is a fairly good, but unsteady, worker. 
Has received township aid. Of low mentality, but not feeble-minded. He married and has had 
six children; the oldest, a daughter (III 21), is immoral. His three sons (III 22-24) are backward 
in school. One of these (III 24) is possibly feeble-minded. The other two are small. 

c— A son (III 12), spent his childhood and early life in a County Infirmary. Was not con- 
sidered bright by members of his own family. Died early. He married his second cousin (III 13, 
also VI 9), a feeble-minded woman, and had one son (III 27)), probably born in 1905. This child 
has been in the County Infirmary with his mother, and is in the second grade in school at eleven 
years. Is feeble-minded. 

d — A daughter (III 14), is married and lives outside of the county. 

e — A son (III 15), is married and lives outside of the county. 

f— Jake (III 16), is said to be of passable mentality, but is a chronic thief, shrewd at driv- 
ing a bargain, cute and scheming. He married his second cousin (III 17, also IV 32), a woman 
with the reputation of being immoral. They have had nine children; the two oldest boys- 



CHART 




[TS 



i5 6'd-^-dd k'''"'mE^M^^-'m^MM-6 



(Ill 28, 29) have been in the County Jail with their father for assault and battery. One of these 
sons has also been before the Juvenile Court for stealing a bicycle. No information was obtained 
in regard to their mentality. 

g — Aaron (III 18) was born about 1876 and spent his childhood in a County Infirmary. 
Does- not know his age and is so feeble-minded that he can tell little about himself. Cannot give 
the names of his family correctly. His eyes are sore and discharging. He is probably syphilitic, 
and is disgustingly dirty. Moves frequently. He, with his wife and two grown sons, lived during 
the winter of 1915-16 in a six by ten-foot shanty. (See Figs. II and III.) He never works, but 
gets his living by begging and picking food from dumps and the refuse thrown out from houses. 
Has served a six months sentence in the County Jail for non-support. Married for his first wife 
(III 19), an illegitimate child of his step-mother. She was said to have been of fair mentality. 
She was born about 1878, spent her childhood in a Children's Home and died in 1911, probably of 
tuberculosis. They had seven children. The oldest (III 38), a girl, bom in 1892, is ignorant but 
keeps a clean house and seems to be of fair mentality. She is extremely immoral. Married her 
second cousin once removed, but has no children. The second child (III 40), died in infancy. 
The third child, a son (III 41), was born in 1896. Has never been to school. Spent one winter 
in the County Infirmary. Is feeble-minded. The fourth child (III 42), a boy, born in 1900, 
seems to be of fair mentality. He has never gone to school. The fifth (III 43), a boy, born in 
1902, died in 1915 in the Children's Home as a result of congenital syphilis. The sixth child 
(III 44), a girl, was born in 1905 and is now an inmate of the Children's Home. She is feeble- 
minded by intelligence test. The seventh child (III 45), a boy, died in infancy. 

Aaron married for his second wife his second cousin (III 20, also VI 23), a girl younger 
than his oldest daughter, and said to be of as low mentality as he. They have one son, bom 
in 1916. 



51 



IWSephronia (IV 1), fourth child of Happy, was hard working and a clean housekeeper. Her 
mentality was probably good, and it was she who made a living for her children. She died at eighty-five 
years. She married her first cousin, Steve Hickory (IV 2). He was an epileptic from the time he was a 
young man and was never able to take care of his family. He made baskets and fished for a living. He 
was drowned during an epileptic attack. He and Sephronia had eight children: 

1— Adam (IV 3), first child of Sephronia, was bom about 1848. An old inhabitant described 
him as "the most defective of all the Hickories." He always lived in a miserable shack "back in 
the brush," and died in 1890 of tuberculosis. He married a woman (IV 4, also III 8) who is extremely 
dirty, a liar, and notoriously immoral. Although now seventy-five years old, she still lives the life of 
a common prostitute. She is a low grade feeble-minded person. She and Adam had five children: 

a — A son (IV 14), born in 1880. Was four years in the Children's Home and spent a year 
in the Boys' Industrial School. Is not considered bright. Cannot hold a job because of ineffi- 
ciency. Never pays his bills. Married his second cousin (IV 15, also V^II21), a feeble-minded girl, 
born in 1886. She has been in Police Court for drunkenness and prostitution. They have had 
seven children, the first of whom died at three years, (IV 54). The cause of death was given as 
scrofula. The second child (IV' 55) died at two and a half years. This child "was not right." 
The next two children (IV 56, 57) died at birth. The fifth child, a girl (IV 58), was born in 
1914 and is a sickly looking baby. The last two children (IV 59, 60) were born dead, 
b — A daughter (IV 16), is married and living in another county. 

c— A daughter (IV 17) died at twenty-three years of tuberculosis. She married a feeble- 
minded man (IV 18) who works very little, begs most of his living, and gets help from the town- 
ship. They have had three children, the oldest of whom could not be located. The second child, 
a girl (IV^62), is living with her paternal uncle and knows nothing of the whereabouts of her 
father. She is supposed to be about eleven years old, has been in school five years and is still 
in the first B grade. She already has bad sexual habits. The third child (IV 63), a boy^ is sup- 
posed to be about ten years old. He is in the third grade, but his teacher says he is unable to 
carry the work of the grade. 

d — A daughter (IV 19), is lazy, keeps such a dirty house that it is almost impossible to stay 
in it, and has no idea how to provide for her family. Is childish in appearance. Is feeble- 
minded without a doubt. She married her second cousin (IV 20, also V34), a feeble-minded man 
who "has sense enough to dodge work, but that is all." He gets frequent township aid and at 
other times lives on the pension of his mother-in-law. He is dishonest and a cheat. They have 
had five children. The oldest is a son (IV 64), thought to be about eleven years old. He is small 
for his age and is still in the first grade in school. He forgets what he learns from day to day. 
The second child (IV 65), a son, born in 1910, has not been to school. Is an extremely dull 
looking child. The third and fifth children (IV 66, 68) died in infancy, and the fourth child, a 
girl (IV 67), was born in 1912. 

e — A daughter (IV 21) died at thirty years of tuberculosis. She married her first cousin once 
removed, a feeble-minded man (IV 22, also VII 12) and had four children, two of whom died in 
infancy. Nothing is known of the other two. 
2— A son (IV 5), second child of Sephronia, died in infancy. 

3 — A son (IV 6), third child of Sephronia, is working as a farm hand in another county. 
4— A daughter, Jerusha (IV 7), fourth child of Sephronia, was probably of fair mentality. She 
married her second cousin, Ben (IV 8), born in 1839, a man of good mentality, but lazy and a hard 
drinker. By him there were four children: 

a— A daughter (IV 23) died in infancy, 
b— A daughter (IV 24) died young. 

c— .\ daughter (IV 25). Is an alcoholic. She married George Hickory (II 18), her first 
cousin once removed. For description of them and their children see description of George, 
youngest son of Old Hank. 

d— Elza (IV 26) was born in 1867 and died in 1913 as the result of an injury in the mine. 
He is said to have been of good intelligence. He married for his first wife his first cousin once 
removed (IV 27, also V30), who died early of tuberculosis. They had two children, a son (IV 73) 
of whom nothing is known, and a daughter (IV 74), who is probably feeble-minded. This daugh- 
ter has a feeble-minded child (IV 76), eight years old, who can make no progress in school. Elza 
(IV 26) married for his second wife, his second cousin, Nora (IV 28, also V86), an immoral 
woman of defective mentality. By her there were four children, the oldest of whom (IV 77), a 
girl of fourteen, is without doubt feeble-minded. It is possible that she is by another father. 
The other three children (IV 78-80) are under ten years of age. 
5 — A daughter, Angeline (IV 9), fifth child of Sephronia, was an intelligent woman. A physician 
said that he had often called on her to care for some sick person. She married her second cousin, 
Ben, the husband of her sister, Jerusha (IV 8), as his second wife. By her there were five children: 
a— Clinton (IV 29) is an inveterate thief, a hard drinker, lazy and lacking in judgment and 
common sense. He is generally considered defective in mentality. He lived with his second 
cousin, Rachel (II 29), without being married. They had four children, description of whom will 
be found under the history of Rachel. 

Clinton married for his first wife, a woman of low mentality with a speech defect. They 
had five children (IV 82-86), one of whom (IV 86) died young of tuberculosis. No description 

52 




was obtained of the others. Clinton 
married for his second wife his second 
cousin, Mary Hickory (IV 31, also 
VI 9) , a feeble-minded woman who al- 
ready had illegitimate children. By her 
there were three children (IV 87-89). 
Two of them died in infancy and the 
third child (IV 87) has been an inmate 
of the County Infirmary and the Chil- 
dren's Home. Clinton deserted this 
wife and her children and she was 
taken to the County Infirmary where 
she died. Clinton then went to live 
with Nora (IV 28, also V86). the 
widow of his half-brother, Elza, and at 
the same time tried to make his father 
support her. They had a child (IV 81), 
born in 1916. When the child was 
about six months old they went out- 
side of the state and were married. 

b— A daughter (IV 32) is of fair 
mentality, but immoral. She had an 
illegitimate daughter and was pregnant 
a second time when she was married. 
She married her second cousin, Jake 
(III 16). For description of him and 
their children see the history of Jake. 

c— A daughter (IV 333, bom in 
1876, "went to school until she was too 
old to go and can read and write 
some." She is dirty and feeble-minded. 
She married a low grade feeble-minded 
man (IV 34), illegitimate child of IV 
4, who has a very small head. He 
cannot read or write. Receives town- 
ship aid. He and his wife have had 
fifteen children, four of whom died in 
infancy. (See Fig. VIII). The oldest 
son (IV 90), was bom in 1894. He is 
feeble-minded. Wanders about the 
country earning a bit here and there 
with which to get drunk. He married 
his second cousin once removed (IV 91, 
also VI 22) and they have one child 
(IV 92), born in 1915. (See Fig. VII.) 
The second son (IV 93) , a twin of the 
first, is very defective mentally. Can- 
not read or write. Seldom works and 
wanders all over the county. He is 
simple and childlike in manner, and 
dishonest. He is the father of the 
illegitimate child of his first cousin 
once removed (IV 44). The third 
child, a daughter (IV 94) was bom in 
1895. Reached the second grade in 
school at fourteen years. Is feeble- 
minded. Married her third cousin (II 
62). The next two children died in in- 
fancy. The sixth child, a son (IV 97), 
born in 1899, was in the second grade 
when he left school at fourteen years. 
The seventh child, a son (IV 98, horn in 
1901, is in the fourth grade in school 
and is the brightest appearing child in 
the family. The eighth child died in 
infancy. The ninth child, a son (IV 
100), born in 1903, is in the first grade 
at thirteen years. The tenth child 



53 



died in infancy. The eleventh child (IV 102), a son, born in 1907, is in the first grade at nine 
years. The other four children (IV 103-106) have never gone to school, but are all dull in 
appearance. 

d — A son (IV 35) is of fair intelligence but lazy. He married his first cousin (II 36), the 
oldest daughter of Jim Hickory. For description of their children, see history of Jim, second 
son of Old Hank. 

e — A daughter (IV 36) is of fair intelligence. Married her second cousin, a feeble-minded 
man (II 33), the youngest son of Sore-Eyed Hank. See his description for history of their 
children. 
6 — Polly (IV 10), sixth child of Sephronia, was probably feeble-minded. Married her first 
cousin (113), Sore-Eyed Hank Hickory. For further description see his history. 

7 — Peggy (IV II), seventh child of Sephronia, probably feeble-minded. Married her first cousin, 
Jim Hickory (115). For further description see his history. 

8— Reuben (IV 12), eighth child of Sephronia, was born in 1860. Cannot read or write. Gets 
frequent township aid. Works only part of the time usually on a section gang. Is a hard drinker. 
In the last five years has developed epileptic attacks. Alarried his first cousin (IV 13). She has better 
intelligence than most of the Hickory family, but did not seem to possess normal feeling for her 
children and relished bringing stories of a sexual nature into her conversation. She has been very 
immoral. She and Reuben have had thirteen children, 
a— (IV 37) born dead. 

b— (IV38), a daughter, born in 1887. Went to school several years but cannot read or 
write. Keeps a very dirty house. Yells and curses at her children. Is a nuisance in the neigh- 
borhood. Is frank and childish in conversation. Married a man of low mentality who is, how- 
ever, a good worker. They have had five children (IV 107-112); the oldest of whom died in 
infancy. The other four are all small. 

c— A daughter (IV 40), died at two months, 
d — A daughter (IV 41), died at fourteen months, 
e — A son (IV 42), died at nine months, 
f— A child (IV 43), born dead. 

g— A daughter (IV 44), born in 1892. Is cross-eyed. Went to school, but could not learn. 
Is now living with her second cousin (II 56), to whom she is not married. Is immoral. Has 
wandering habits and is feeble-minded .She has an illegitimate son (IV 112), bom in 1915, by 
her first cousin once removed (IV 93), a feeble-minded man. At nineteen months this child was 
just beginning to cut his teeth and had made no attempt to walk. 

h— A daughter (IV 47), born in 1898. Finished school at sixteen years and was then in the 
third grade. For two summers she has "bummed" her way over the country by means of freight 
trains in company with a man who is now serving a sentence in the Ohio Penitentiary for assault 
with intent to rape. She had one child by this man which died in infancy. She is feeble-minded, 
i — A son (IV 49), born in 1902. Is fourteen years old and in the second grade. Feeble- 
minded. 

j— A daughter (IV 50), born in 1904. Cannot talk plainly. Is cross-eyed. Has a swaying 
gait. Has never gone to school. Cannot take care of herself. A low grade imbecile, 
k — A son (IV 51), born in 1907. Second year in the first grade. Feeble-minded. 
1— A daughter (IV 52), born in 1911. 
m— A still-born child (IV 53). 

V — Jane (See Chart I), fifth child of Happy Hickory, died young. 

Wl—Ann (VI), sixth child of Happy, born about 1820, was sexually immoral even after her 
marriage. Was blind for many years before her death. Died in March, 1915, at ninety-five years of age. 
She married a feeble-minded man (V2), who died at forty-five years of tuberculosis. He could not read 
or write. Always walked in a stooped position and had sore eyes. No one ever hired him because he had 
no ability. He and Ann had seven children: 

1 — Abby (V5). Old inhabitants declared she was "not bright." She died early of tuberculosis. 
She married her second cousin (V6), Eben, a feeble-minded man, as his first wife. He was born in 
1846, and is a never-failing source of amusement in the village where he lives. He has a very active 
imagination and, with a little encouragement, will tell the most amazing tales. The information he 
gave was wholly unreliable. He has never worked steadily until recently he was given a job as street 
cleaner. Has frequent township aid. Some one once told him that Niagara Falls was burning, where- 
upon he became much excited and in the course of a few hours went into town to ask if the fire was 
out yet. He and his first wife had two children: 

a— A son (V 34, also IV^20). No one considers him bright and he is the subject of jokes. 
Has tuberculosis. Married his second cousin (IV 19). For description of them and their children, 
see history of Sephronia's descendants. 

b— Jude (V35) was born about 1880, though she does not know her exact age. Is feeble- 
minded and notorious throughout the whole country for her immorality. Is loose-jointed, has 
projecting mouth and teeth and receding chin. When asked her last name she replied that she 
had had so many husbands she did not know what it was now. She wanders about the country 
living with any man who will have her, under any conditions, and tries to get the young girls of 

54 




i /¥Tf 




her acquaintance to go with her. She and 
a feeble-minded cousin have "bummed" 
their way through several states by freight 
train and on foot. The authorities of the 
township where she lives once sent her to 
the infirmary in the hope of putting an end 
to her promiscuous life, but she soon ran 
away. When seen she is always smoking 
or chewing a big mouthful of tobacco. She 
married her second cousin (II 51), an alco- 
holic man, who was killed by a train. Her 
six children by him have been in the 
Children's Home. For further description, 
see the children of Nancy, the sixth child 
of Old Hank. She married for her second 
husband (II 25), a feeble-minded second 
cousin who soon "ran her off" because he 
declared she tried to poison him. Jude also 
had an illegitimate child (V95) by a man 
of good standing in the community. This 
child is being cared for by his family and 
is said to be bright. 
2— Lizzie (V7), second child of Anne, 
was born in 1849. Has no reasoning ability. 
Could give no dates or ages. Told impossible 
things as facts. Talked in a whining tone. 
Tried to give the impression of being very re- 
ligious. Is generally considered defective. Is 
very dirty and has "sore eyes." She married 
for her first husband, her second cousin, Noah 
(\'8), a brother of Eben. He was very ignor- 
ant and lazy. A story was told that one of the 
neighbors threatened to prosecute him if he 
did not feed his horse. "His horse was stand- 
ing in the barn starving to death because he 
was too lazy to go down into the field and 
bring up fodder." Was said to be as defective 
as his brother Eben. He and Lizzie had three 
children: 

a — A daughter (V40), considered 
"not bright" by the Hickories. She died 
at twenty-eight years as a result of syphi- 
litic infection. She was married but had 
no children. 

b— A son (V41), died at ten years. 
Was never able to talk and was probably 
an idiot. "He wasn't right no way." 

c— A son (V42), born in 1887. A 
low grade imbecile. Has animal-like ap- 
pearance, a stooped position, mutters, and 
avoids strangers. Has periods of excite- 
ment when he thinks some one is chasing 
him. The county pays his step-father one 
dollar a week for his support. He does no 
work. At times becomes religious and 
wants to join the church. 

Lizzie's first husband left her and 
went into another state, whereupon she 
went to live with Eben (V 6), her husband's 
brother and her dead sister's husband. 
When her husband returned they refused 
to allow him to enter the house. He was fin- 
ally killed by a train on a crossing. Lizzie 
and Eben had two children. The first died 
in infancy. The second, a daughter (V38), 
can read and write, but is dirty, shiftless, 
and considered below par mentally. She is 
married and has three little children. 



55 



3— Daughter (V9), reads and writes. Is a neat housekeeper. Is much brighter than the average 
Hickory. She is married and has children, for whom descriptions were not obtained. 
4 and 5 — A boy and a girl (V 10, 11), died in infancy. 

6 — A daughter (V 12, also 119), feeble-minded. She married for her first husband, Jo Hickory 
(118), her first cousin. For description of them and their children see the descendants of Old Hank. 
She married for her second husband another first cousin (V 13, also VII 3). They had no children. 

7— Jed (V14), born about 1861. He and his family have been supported by the township for 
years. He seldom works and gets drunk whenever it is possible. Has a speech defect. Is as simple 
as a child. Has never been outside of the township in which he lives. Says he owns five acres of 
land, but has no deed to the property and has never paid for it. Has trachoma. Is decidedly feeble- 
minded. Married his double first cousin, Chloe (V 15). The father of each is a brother to the mother 
of each. His wife was born about 1868. Is feeble-minded. Cannot read or write. Keeps a disgust- 
ingly dirty house. Picks berries and digs roots for their living. The whole family make a practice of 
begging throughout the township. There are eight children: 
a— A daughter (V43), died in infancy. 

b — A daughter (V44), bom about 1894. Can read a little. Cannot write. Is very dull in 
appearance and easily influenced. When sixteen years old she married an old soldier, said to 
be about eighty, thinking that after his death she would receive his pension. He died, leaving her 
with three little children. She found she could not get the pension, so has recently married her 
second husband, a feeble-minded man (IV 18), who had been living with her for several months. 
He is already the father of two defective children by a Hickory woman, 
c— A daughter (V46), died at sixteen years of measles. 

d— A son (V47), was found dead in bed when three months old. "Some one had rolled 
on him." 

e— A son (V48), bom about 1898. A low grade imbecile. Went to school faithfully, but 
was still in the first grade at sixteen years. Has inflamed eyes. Does no work. Was afraid of the 
field worker and her camera. 

f — A daughter (V49), born about 1901. Has gone to school regularly, but has been unable 
to learn her letters and cannot learn to spell. She has "sore eyes" and fainting spells. 

g— A son (V^50), bom about 1904. Can make no progress in school. Eyelids are inflamed 
and corners of his mouth are filled with sores. Has no eye lashes. Trachoma. Has been before 
the Juvenile Court on charge of incorrigibility. 

h— A son (V51), born about 1908. Has inflamed lids. Is still in the first grade in school. 
Feeble-minded. 

VIl— Martin (V4), seventh child of Happy Hickory, was bom about 1822. Could not read or 
write. Was quarrelsome and contrary. The most work he ever did was to cut poles for farmers. Was 
decidedly shiftless, and never owned any land. Had "sore eyes" for many years and was entirely blind 
for the last eight years of his life as a result of trachoma. Received a "blind pension." Always drank to 
excess when he had money to spend. He died in one of the State Hospitals of senile dementia in 1915. 
He married an ignorant woman (V3), the sister of his sister Anne's husband, who died in middle age of 
tuberculosis. They had eleven children: 

1 — Chloe (V'15), born in 1868. Feeble-minded. She married her double first cousin, Jed 
Hickory, and has been described under the children of Anne. 

2 — A son (V16). A drinker and no-account. Does not live in one place very long. Has lived 
with several different women. He married first an epileptic woman and had five children, of whom 
nothing is known except that one died in infancy. He married for his second wife, Laura (II 21), his 
first cousin once removed. She was feeble-minded and died when about forty-five of tuberculosis. 
For description of her and their children see history of the descendants of Sore-Eyed Hank. 

3— A son (V 18). An alcoholic who was killed by a train. He married the same woman, Laiura 
(II 21), who was his brother's second wife, as her first husband. For description of their children 
see the history of the descendants of Sore-Eyed Hank. 

4 — Mose (V19), the fourth child of Martin, is known as "Thieving Mose." "Steals every- 
thing he can lay his hands on." Never works and is constantly helped by the township. Has never 
served a jail sentence, but was once arrested for stealing com. He has been run out of town for 
stealing chickens. Is entirely irresponsible, lies and cheats. He married a feeble-minded woman 
(V20, sister of IV 4), who is described by one of the Hickories as "not as smart as the rest." She 
has always been immoral. She and Mose have had thirteen children, six of whom (V 68-73) died 
in infancy. 

a— A daughter (V57), born in 1869. Married a Hickory man. Nothing was leamed about 
her. 

b— A, daughter (V58), born about 1875. Does not know her own age. Says she cannot 
keep track of her children's ages. Went several years to school but cannot read or write. Has 
been subject to epileptic attacks but declares she has had none in the last two years. Is child- 
ishly curious. Followed the field worker to houses of the neighbors. She married a man (V 59) 
who can read and write and works steadily in the mine, but never seems to be able to make 
money enough to support his family. They are always in need and expect the community to 
help them. He is thought to have some negro blood in his veins. They have had ten children; 
four of these died in infancy and another died at fifteen of tuberculosis. A son, bom about 1900, 
left school at sixteen and was then graded in the fourth grade, but was not able to do the work of 

56 



the grade. Is mean, vicious, and likes to fight. Has recently developed epilepsy. Another son, 
bom about 1904, is in the third grade at twelve years. His teacher says that he does very poorly. 
A third son, born probably in 1905, is in the second grade at eleven years. It is his third year in 
the grade. The other two children are very young. 

c — A daughter (V 60) is said to be even more defective than her sister just described. 
Married a feeble-minded man and is living outside the county. They have had three children, all 
reported to be feeble-minded. Their son (V 113) wanders from place to place and gets jobs here 
and there. 

d — A daughter (V62), born about 1883, died in 1914 of puerperal fever. She was married 
and had five children, of whom one died in infancy. The other four are in the Children's Home 
of another county. 

e — A son (V 64) is described as "a chip of the old block," never works, and is said to be 
very defective in appearance. He married his second cousin (II 46), a low grade feeble-minded 
woman. For description of them and their children, see the history of the descendants of Old Hank 
Hickory. 

f — A daughter (V 65) keeps a cleaner house than most of the Hickories and seems to have 
a little more common sense. Is a habitual beggar and expects the community to support her 
family. Is very ignorant. She married (V 66, also VII 12) her first cousin once removed. He 
was born in 1869. Is very dull in appearance, holds his mouth open, and has a projecting lower 
jaw. Is a hard drinker and has the reputation of being "tricky." Blind in one eye. Tries to 
get constant township aid on the excuse that he cannot see. He and his wife frequently go out 
begging together. He can neither read nor write and is feeble-minded. They have had four chil- 
dren, of whom one died in infancy. Their oldest son (V 120) is in the fifth grade at fifteen years. 
He is a sickly, dull looking child in appearance and is probably a high grade moron. Their 
daughter (V121), born in 1903, is in the third grade at thirteen years. She is slow, lazy, and 
unable to keep her attention on one thing long. She has absorbed very little in school and is with- 
out doubt defective. The fourth child, a son (V122), was born in 1910 and has not yet gone 
to school. 

g— A daughter (V67), born in 1895. Lives at home and has never gone to school. No 
further description was obtained. 
5 — A son (V21), fifth child of Martin, is married and living in another county. 
6 — A daughter (V 22) married her second cousin and lives in another county. 
7 — A son (V 24) is married and lives in another county. 

8 — A daughter (V 25) is married and living in another county. She has two sons, one of whom 
has been in the County Jail and recently left the State to avoid arrest for shooting a man. 

9— Hetty (V27), ninth child of Martin, born in 1860. Keeps her two room log house clean 
and is fairly industrious. Cannot read or write. Is childish and easily influenced. Before her 
marriage was sexually immoral. 

Her oldest daughter (V 76) is said to be by her father, Martin. The truant officer, who has 
frequently had to visit the home of this daughter, said, "She don't act bright." She married her first 
cousin once removed (V 77, also VII 11), an alcoholic man, and they have had five children, of whom 
one died in infancy. No description was obtained of the other four. 

Hetty had a second illegitimate child, a son (V78). The father of this child was her second 
cousin, who was himself the illegitimate child of one of the Hickory women. His mentality was 
above the average of the Hickory family. This son works steadily at the brick plant and is a good 
citizen. He married his second cousin once removed (III 38), a woman shockingly immoral, but of 
fair mentality. They have no children. 

Hetty married her second cousin once removed (V29), who is the son of the father of her 
second illegitimate child. He is a very ignorant man, but probably of fair mentality. He was born 
in 1859. Can read a little, but not write. As a young man he was licentious and a thief, but is now 
proudly designated as a "preacher." He frequently holds services and is said to be able to preach 
a very good sermon. He works as a day laborer. In general he is considered honest, but last year 
while living on another man's place used all of his rail fences for fire wood. He and Hetty had eight 
children, of whom three were born dead and two died in infancy (V 79-83). 

a— A daughter (V 84) married her first cousin once removed (V 85, also VII 6) and is 
living outside the county. He had left his first wife and six children and gone directly to live 
with her. She was pregnant for her second child by him before they were finally married. They 
have had in all five children, of whom nothing is known. 

b— Nora (V 86, also IV 28) is a rough, coarse woman in appearance and has decidedly low 
mentality. She has always had immoral sexual habits. She married as her first husband Elza 
(IV 26), her second cousin. For description of them and their children see the history of the 
children of Sephronia. She married for her second husband, Clinton (IV 29), another second 
cousin, with whom she had been living for some time and by whom she already had a child. He 
was a half-brother of her first husband. For further description see the history of the 
children of Sephronia. ^ 

c — A daughter (V 87) went to school, but never learned to read or write. Lives a wander- 
ing, make-shift life and is disgustingly immoral. She married a shiftless man and has two little 
children. 

57 



10 — A daughter (V30), tenth child of Martin, died early of tuberculosis. She married Elza 
(IV 26), her first cousin once removed, as his first wife. For description of them and their children 
see the history of the children of Sephronia. 

11— Mattie (V31), eleventh child of Martin. One of the Hickories said of her, "She hasn't 
got any sense." Another described her as, "The meanest woman I ever knew," She is now living in 
another county with a mulatto, by whom she has two little children. She married for her legal hus- 
band her first cousin, Ralph Hickory (V32 ,also VII 5), a feeble-minded alcoholic, and had four 
children : 

a— A girl (\' 89) died young. 

b — A son (V 90) born in 1888. Never progressed in school. Has served several terms in 
the county jail and work house. One work house sentence was for "shooting his mother because 
she was running around with niggers." He, himself, married a mulatto, but is not living with her. 
He tramps all through Southern Ohio and lately has been "running with" Jude Hickory (V35), 
his second cousin. 

c— Nothing is known of the other two children (V91,92). 

VIII— 5M5aK (VII), eighth child of Happy Hickory, was born about 1824 and is the only one of 
the fraternity now living. Has been a hard worker and is generally respected. Receives a soldier's widow's 
pension and it is the general opinion that she would be better off if she did not have to support so many 



CHART Yl 



<rai 




a 



d 









b" D ' 



relatives. Has occasional township aid. Low mentality, but not feeble-minded. She married a worthless 
man of low intelligence as his second wife. He died in Libby Prison, leaving her with four children. 
1— A daughter (V^I 3) died in infancy. 

2— A son (VI 4) died at thirty-five of typhoid fever. He could read and write, but never tried 
to get work. "He just worked around home." 

3— A daughter (VIS) born in 1858, has an uncontrollable temper and is subject to hysterical 
spells. Can read and write and has a fairly large vocabulary. Is dull of comprehension. Contrary 
and complaining. Is probably on the borderline of feeble-mindedness. She married her second 
cousin (VI 6), born in 1S52, a lazy alcoholic, but of fairly good intelligence. They had six children: 
a — Mary (VI 9) was born in 1878. She was generally considered feeble-minded. Her teeth 
never developed so that she was able to use them. She had an illegitimate daughter (VI 25), 
born in 1900. This girl has never developed any teeth. Is now sixteen years old and still in the 
first grade in school. Her teacher says that she cannot learn anything. Mary married as her 
first husband her second cousin (III 12), who had been brought up in a County Infirmary and 
was defective mentally. This husband and her one child by him are described under the descend- 
ants of Maria. Mary married for her second husband another second cousin, Clinton (IV 29), 
a feeble-minded man of criminal, immoral, and alcoholic habits. Her three children by this man 
are described under the descendants of Sephronia. Mary's second husband left her while she was 
pregnant and she, with her three children, was sent to the County Infirmary. She died there in 
1912, five weeks after the birth of her baby. 

b — A daughter (VI 11), said to be of good mentality. Married her third cousin, a hard 
worker and intelligent man. They have one child, born in 1907, who does well in school. 

c— A son (VI 13) was born in 1883. Said to have been of fair intelligence. Was drowned 
while drunk. , 

d — A son (VT14), born in 1885. Seems to be of fair mentality, but has never been known 
to work. Spends his time hunting. 



58 



e— A daughter (VI 15), born in 1890, is of good intelligence. She has an illegitimate boy 
(VI 27), born in 1911, who is bright. She married a feeble-minded alcoholic as his third wife. He 
was already the father of at least two defective children. They have one child, born in 1915. 

f — A daughter (VI 18), born in 1895. Could not learn in school. Described by her mother 

as "not as bright as the other children." Was away from home at the time of the field worker's 

visit. 

4— A daughter (VI 7), born in 1861. Quick, nervous, uncontrollable temper, quarrelsome. Is 

hard working, but a dirty housekeeper. Writes a little, but cannot read. Cannot count money and 

has no idea of its value. At one time she took a roll of bills to a grocer and asked him to keep 

them for her. She had earned this money digging roots and taking in washings. He found that she 

had one hundred and forty dollars, but this seemed to mean no more to her than two or three dollars 

would to the ordinary person. She is probably on the borderline of feeble-mindedness. She married 

her first cousin (VIS, also VII 8), who left her and went to live with another Hickory woman. They 

had six children: 

a — A son (VI 19), born in 1883. Imbecile. Is considered defective by all the Hickories. 
Does no \vork and spends his time wandering through the woods. The inhabitants of the com- 
munity are exercised because he is allowed to be at large, as they say it is not safe for a woman 
to go out alone when he is around. He has attacked several girls, but is not strong enough 
physically to overcome them. He complained to the field worker that he could not find a woman 
who would marry him. 

b— A son (VI 20) died in infancy. 

c— A son (VI 21) died at five years. 

d — A daughter (VI 22) can read and write. Is neat in appearance and seems more 
intelligent than the average Hickory. She married her second cousin once removed (IV 90), who 
is feeble-minded, alcoholic and dishonest. For description of his people and their children see the 
history of the descendants of Sephronia. 

e — A daughter (VI 23), born in 1895. Said to be of about the same mentality as her oldest 
brother. Married Aaron, her second cousin (III 18). See history of the children of Maria. 

f — A daughter (VI 24), born in 1900. Small and undeveloped. Her mother thinks she is 
deformed and says that she behaves like a child six years old. She has never been able to get 
out of the first grade in school. 

IX — Harriet (VIII), ninth child of Happy Hickory, was born in 1826 and died in 1907 of pneu- 
monia. She was blind for the last ten years of her life. An old resident described her, "As bright as any 
of them and a little brighter than some of them." She married a shiftless man (VII 2) as his second wife. 
The only work he ever did was to make axe-handles. He had seventeen children by his two wives. Nine 
of these children were by Harriet. 

1 — A son (VII 3). He is not considered bright, but does not drink and is law-abiding. His fam- 
ily gets along although he shows no judgment about spending his money and his wife has no idea of 
economy. He earns a fair amount but they are always poor. He works as a laborer. Has been 
married twice. His second wife (V 12) was his first cousin. Nothing is known of his children. 

2— Ralph (VII 5), born about 1870. A basket maker. Is usually supported by some of his 
relatives because he drinks up all the money he earns. Is rather pompous and likes to attract at- 
tention. Can read but not write. Employers will not hire him for day labor. Is a high grade 
feeble-minded person. Married his first cousin (V31), who has since left him. For description of 
their children see the history of Mattie, the youngest child of Martin. 

3— A daughter (VII 6) married and had four children, two of whom died in early life of tuber- 
culosis. The family receive constant township aid. 

4— A son (VII 8), now living in another county. Married his first cousin (VI 7) for his first 
wife Left her and went to live with a first cousin once removed (V84), whom he has since 
married. For further description of his children by these two marriages see the history of the 
descendants of Susan and of Martin. 

5— A daughter (VII 9), born in 1866. Eyelids are inflamed from trachoma. Never went to 
school. Cannot talk intelligently. Could not give the names of her brothers correctly. Feeble- 
minded. Married a man of passable intelligence (VII 2), who is an epileptic. He works steadily 
but does not get ahead because he has to support so many of his wife's relatives. He and his wife 
have had nine children. 

a— A daughter (\TI21), born in 1886. Went to school two years, but could not learn. A 
sex offender before her marriage. In police court for slandering, cursing, and immorality. 
Married her second cousin (IV 14), a feeble-minded man. For list of their children see the his- 
tory of the children of Sephronia. 

b — A daughter (VII 22) died at two months in convulsions. 

c— A daughter (VII 25), born in 1888. Went to school two years, but cannot read or write. 
Is immcral. Does not know how to manage her home. Quarrels frequently with her husband. 
Married her second cousin, a feeble-minded man (II 48). For description of him and their 
children see the history of the descendants of Old Hank. 

59 



d— A daughter (VII 23), born in 1890. Is considered the brightest child in the family. 

Went to school three years and reached the second grade. Was arrested with her sister for cursing, 

slandering, and immorality. Is married and has had three children, one of whom died in infancy. 

e — A daughter (VII 26), born in 1893. Went to school two years but cannot write or read. 

Married a Hickory and has two small children. Living outside the county. 

f — A daughter (VII 28) died at fourteen years. The cause given by the mother was, "eating 
too much sauerkraut." 

g— A daughter (VII 29) died young. 

h — A son (VII 30), born in 1901. Goes to school irregularly and is in the second grade at 
fifteen years. Teacher says he cannot do as well as first grade pupils. Cannot answer ordinary 
questions. Is pale and weak physically. 

i — A son (VII 31), born in 1905. In the first grade at eleven years. Looks brighter than his 
brother, but makes no better progress. 
6 — A son (Villi), is a fairly good worker in the mine. Is reckless and a "terrible drinker." 
Married his first cousin once removed (V76). For description of her and their children see the his- 
tory of the children of Martin. 

7— A son (VII 12), born in 1869. A hard drinker and a habitual beggar. Receives frequent 
township and private aid. Does not work if he can help it. Married twice to first cousins once 



CHART TZn 









b «oe bi9<» I 



removed (IV 21 and V65). For description of his children by these marriages see the histories of the 
children of Sephronia and of Martin. 

8 — A son (VII 13), born in 1864. Cannot read or write, but is a steady worker. Owns a small 
piece of land. Is a regular drinker. He married (VII 14), a woman of good mentality who is in- 
dustrious and can read and write. They have had fifteen children of whom eleven are now living. 
They all seem to be bright children with the exception of one, a son (VII 36), bom in 1892. 
Although he went to school for several years, he cannot read or write. Works every day in the 
mine, but is considered defective. Has a peculiar gait and likes to do things to attract attention. Is 
a subject for jokes. 

9— A daughter (VII 15) died in 1900 of childbirth, leaving three children. Nothing is known of 
this family except that her husband was a hunchback. 

X — Sarah (See Chart I), tenth child of Happy Hickory, died at sixteen years of tuberculosis. 

XI— Robert (See Chart I), eleventh child of Happy Hickory, died in 1861 of tuberculosis. An old 
inhabitant said of him, "He did not look sensible." He married and had ten children, of whom seven are 
now living in another county. 

II. The D. Family 
The D. family, although it does not approach the Hickory family in fre- 
quency of mental defect and extent of dependency, nevertheless was found to 
have contributed largely to the number of defectives and dependents in the 
county. It was interesting to find that defectives in six different families 
found in separated sections of the county traced back to the original D. 
stock. An officer who aided the field worker, when told of these relation- 



60 



ships, was impressed by the fact that, as he put it, "All the families that cause 
us trouble around here are really one family." 

The study was begun with a fraternity of six. A brief description of the 
family follows: 

The Fraternity 

1. Female, 33 years old. Not feeble-minded. Lewd. Lives life of a tramp and a prostitute. In 
court for drunkenness and prostitution. Married. No children. Probably an illegitimate child of her 
mother. 

2. Female, 30 years old. Moron. Syphilitic. Described as Case 16. Married her second cousin. 
Daughter in Ohio Hospital for Epileptics. 

3. Male, 28 years old. Moron. Perhaps epileptic. Alcoholic. Petty thief. Police court. Served 
a term in Ohio State Reformatory for larceny. Seldom works. Married. Two little children. 

4. Male, 27 years old. Moron. Has been in workhouse for non-support. Petty thief. Seldom 
works. Married feeble-minded girl. Three little children. 

5. Male, 20 years old. Moron. Petty thief. In Boys' Industrial School for truancy. In Ohio 
State Reformatory with cousin for forgery. Cousin made out the check and he tried to cash it. Both 
broke parole by breaking into a box car. Both now in Ohio State Reformatory. 

6. Male, 18 years old. Not feeble-minded. Illegitimate child of mother. Only one of family who 
works steadily. His is the only legitimate support of the family. 

Whole family is a nuisance to authorities because of constant thieving and demands for township 
aid. Are frequently threatened with Infirmary unless they go to work. 

The Father and His Fraternity 

Fifty-five years old. Moron. Blind since a young man. Has never worked. Cannot carry on a 
conversation. Stops in middle of a sentence and has to be prompted. Had a sister who died in In- 
firmary and a nephew is now an inmate there. Others of his fraternity are good citizens. 

The Mother and Her Fraternity 

1. Mother, fifty-four years old. Moron. In police court for petty thefts. Has been driven out of 
town because of lewdness. Is sly and scheming in a simple way. Unreliable. Blind in one eye. Dirty. 
Tall and gaunt. Syphilitic. Keeps a sickeningly dirty house. 

2. Male. Probably borderline intelligence. Fairly good worker. Petty thief. Has two children, 
a son of low intelligence, a petty thief and alcoholic; and a daughter who has had several illegitimate 
children. 

3. Male, sixty-two years old. Low grade moron. Lowest mentality in the fraternity. Makes axe 
handles. Receives constant township aid. Syphilitic. Described as Case 17. Had two children; younger 
an imbecile, in Children's Home, had congenital syphilis, now dead. Older, a moron, is living. 

4. Male. Borderline mentality. Lazy. Sly. Scheming. Sexually immoral. Has lived with at 
least four different women. Two small children by fourth wif^. By third wife were four children. Two 
died in infancy. Son, twenty-four years old, not feeble-minded. Now in Ohio State Reformatory with 
his cousin. No. 5 of original fraternity. Daughter, twenty years old, borderline mentality. In Girls' 
Industrial Home for immorality. Married her second cousin while out on parole. She is said to have had 
a syphilitic infection since eight years old. Husband also syphilitic. He has been in jail for drunkenness 
and fighting. His mentality unknown. One child, born in a box car, died in infancy from congenital 
syphilis. 

5. Female. Mentality unknown. Alcoholic. Sexually immoral. Married. 

The Mother's Father and His Fraternity 

Mother's father was honest, but could not provide for his family. "Good for nothing." Became 
demented late in life. Died at eighty years. Four brothers were respectable. Two sisters died" in County 
Infirmary, one early of tuberculosis, the other old. 

The Mothers' Mother and Her Fraternity 

1. Mother's mother, born 1819 in the county where she always lived. Feeble-minded. Was a 
popular superstition that she was a witch. Was avoided. "All she did was run around." Petty thief 
and a beggar. Sexually immoral. Was twice in the County Infirmary in old age. Died about 1904. 

2. Male. Said to have had fair intelligence. Died in County Infirmary. Had six children. 
Nothing known of three of these. Daughter is sexually immoral. Two sons are frequently in court for 
drunkenness and stealing. Generally considered worthless. So far as known is no feeble-mindedness in 
this branch of family, though are two suspected cases. 

3. Male. Born 1806 in Pennsylvania. Mentality undetermined. Shiftless. Sexually immoral. 
Said to have been active in Methodist revivals. Spent several winters in Infirmary. Three children by 
first wife. One died young. Second, a son, living in another county, said to spend much time in County 
Infirmary. Third, a daughter, was syphilitic and reported feeble-minded. She had a daughter, also 
syphilitic, in the County Infirmary and the Insane Hospital, and a feeble-minded grand-daughter is now 
in the County Infirmary. She is referred to in the section on the County Infirmary as the twenty-one 

61 



year old girl who, while living as a prostitute, became infected with syphilis. One child by second wife. 
He, with this wife and child, was twice in the Infirmary. Wife died there. He left and was back, the 
next winter with a third wife. Since his death she has been twice admitted to the Infirmary. Has now 
been an inmate since 1907. 

4. ;Male. Born 1805. In County Infirmary when old. Old record says, "Previous habits worthless." 
Had eleven children. One daughter was epileptic and had an epileptic and feeble-minded son who died in 
the Infirmary at twenty-four years. A feeble-minded child was found in the public school who was 
descended from a second daughter. A third daughter was in the County Infirmary for the second time at 
twenty-six years. The record reads, ''Simple and bad with syphilis." She afterwards married. A fourth 
daughter was in the Infirmary with her husband when they were old. They had an epileptic daughter, a 
son of borderline mentality, and an imbecile grandson. A fifth child, a son, is shiftless and of low 
mentality. Two of his nine children have been patients at the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics. 

5. Female. No record of her descendants. 

6. Female. No record of her descendants. 

7. Female. Had four children. One was found living in the county. Now childish from old age 
Physician says she has always been feeble-minded and se.xually immoral. Has children by several men. 
Four daughters, all bad characters, two of them probably feeble-minded. One son, forty -five years old, 
feeble-minded and speech defect. Tends door in doctor's office for fifty cents a day. Two grandchil- 
dren, both illegitimate. Granddaughter is feeble-minded and immoral. Grandson, probably feeble-minded. 
Has gone off with a circus. A fifth daughter is intelligent. Only one in family who does not have a 
speech defect. Supports her mother, brother and niece by sewing. 

Sixteen feeble-minded persons were found, two in the Ohio Hospital for 
Epileptics, one in the Ohio State Reformatory, one in the County Infirmary, 
and the other twelve at large in the county who were related by blood and 
descended from a common ancestor who came from Pennsylvania about the 
year 1800. Thirteen of his descendants have been in the County Infirmary 
together with six consorts, three have been in the Ohio Hospital for Epileptics, 
three in the Ohio State Reformatory, one in the Girls' Industrial Home, one 
in the Boys' Industrial School, and numerous others have been in police 
court and county jail. One branch of the family is characterized by the ap- 
pearance of epilepsy, and there are also a large number of syphilitics through- 
out the whole strain. 

III. The S. Family 

John S. The father. Born in Southern Ohio, date unknown. Feeble-minded. Could not read, 
write or count. Could not distinguish pieces of money. His daughter said that he "did not seem to 
know how to manage." Lived in shanties on other people's farms and was several times an inmate of the 
Infirmary. Had a severe speech defect. Died at about fifty-four years of tuberculosis. First wife was 
feeble-minded. "She didn't know enough to take care of Herself," and "She didn't have no sense at all," 
were things said of her by her own relatives. They had seven children. An old Infirmary record reads: 
"John S. and family received, July 8, 1870. Ages not given, they all being idiotic." The family included 
his wife and four children. Their seven children were as follows: 
1— The first child died young as a result of burns. 

2— Daughter, born about 1860. Low grade imbecile. Epileptic. Was in the County Infirmary for 
ten years and has been in the State Institution for Feeble-Minded for the past thirty-seven years. Her 
mentality is that of a child between three and four years old. 

3 — Son. "Was not bright." "Took after his father." Was drowned at seven years at the 
Infirmary. 

4— Daughter. Feeble-minded. Thinks she was bom in 1865. Reached second grade in school. 
Remained in the Infirmary till she was a young woman. Went out, married a colored man and had 
eleven children by him. Has always been sexually immoral. Encourages her children to immorality. 
Neglects and mistreats them because they are colored, so she says. Goes out washing and cleaning. 
Will work all day for a few old clothes. Is not considered bright in the community. She married a 
negro for her second husband, but he has since left her. Her children by her first husband follow: 
a — Female, died at four years. 

b — Male, born in 1885. A hard drinker and immoral. Left his wife and is now living with 
a young girl discharged from Girls' Industrial Home. 

c— Female. Married and living outside the county, 
d — Alale. Was killed by a train while drunk when thirty years old. 
e — Female. Is married and living outside the state. 

f— Female. Said to be brighter than her sibs. Working as a domestic. In court for fight- 
ing. Has an illegitimate daughter of good intelligence. 

62 



g— Female. Not bright. In court for theft several times. Sexually immoral. His illegitimate 
son. Once tried to kill father of her child and then to commit suicide. Living in another county, 
h — Male. Lives at home. Works in coal bank. A hard drinker. Low mentality, 
i — Male. Lives at home. Works in coal bank. A hard drinker. Low mentality, 
j — Female. At home. Sexually immoral. Had to leave school at fourteen years because 
pregnant. Has illegitimate son. Low intelligence, 
k— Male. Born dead. 
5 — Son. Died at three years at County Infirmary. Idiot. Could never hold up his head. 
6, 7— The sixth and seventh children were twins, born in the Infirmary in 1870. They died at 
birth. 
John S.'s first wife died at the Infirmary at the time the twins were born. A record two months 
later in the same year reads: "John S., discharged for bad conduct." He had had bad relations with a 
woman who had come to the Infirmary to give birth to a child. This woman was married, but her hus- 
band had left her. She was of low mentality, sexually immoral, and later was known to have acquired 
syphilis. She and John left the Infirmary together, leaving their five children behind. They afterwards 
had eight children, who follow: 

1, 2 — The first two were born dead. 

3— Male. Died at ten years of spinal meningitis. Speech defect. 
4— Female. Died in infancy. 

5 — Female. Born about 1880. High grade feeble-minded. Works out by the day, cleaning and 
washing. Speech defect. Married but lives with her husband only at intervals. Quarrelsome. Very 
immoral. Her sister said, "But then, she only lives with one man at a time." Has had no children. 
6 — Female. Jane, born in 1883. Feeble-minded. Never went to school. Voluble. Poor mem- 
ory and no common sense. Does not know the ages of her children. Says there is no use for any one 
to tell her because she won't remember them. Dirty housekeeper. Takes in washings. Receives 
private charity. Has been in jail several times for drunkenness and prostitution. Delights to talk 
about sexual matters. Has been very immoral. Had had four illegitimate children when married. 
Married a feeble-minded man with psychopathic tendency, a drinker of pure alcohol. Has had chil- 
dren by another man since h,er marriage. Her children follow: 

a— The oldest, a boy, was bom when she was sixteen years old. His father is supposed to 
be Jane's step-father, described as Case 30. Aunt said that child did not walk or talk until six 
years old. Is very backward in school. Has stolen money from cash box of corner grocery. 
Probably feeble-minded. 

b— The second and fourth children died in infancy. Their fathers were not definitely 
known. 

c — The third child, a boy, born in 1904. Backward in school, but not defective, 
d — Girl, born 1908. Cross-eyed and feeble-minded. Still in first grade in school. This child 
and the sixth who died in infancy were by her husband. 

e — Girl, born 1910. Was by a blind alcoholic who lived neighbor to them. As yet shows no 
sign of mental defect. 
7— Cynthia, born about 1885. Imbecile. Living in the County Infirmary. Can do simple tasks 
if some one watches her and directs her. Speech defect. Cannot read or write. Sexually immoral. 
She has been admitted to the Infirmary five times. The records read as follows: "Admitted Jan. 
16, 1899, destitute and pregnant." "Discharged Feb. 23, 1899." "Admitted March 19, 1901." "Dis- 
charged June 30, 1901." "Admitted Dec. 12, 1901, destitute and pregnant." "Discharged Sept. 6, 
1903." "Admitted Aug. 30, 1907, with her child." "Discharged May 22, 1908." The date of the 
fifth admission does not appear on the books, but she is at present an inmate of the County Infirmary 
and has been for several years. Her oldest child, a daughter, was born in 1899 when Cynthia was 
fourteen. She reached the third grade in school at sixteen years. Is a moron and developing the 
sexual characteristics of her mother. She was in the County Infirmary as a child with her mother. 
Is now living with her Aunt Jane. The second child, a son, was born in the County Infirmary in 
1901 and has lived there all his life with the exception of six weeks. He is a deformed imbecile and 
has not been sent to the Children's Home in order that he may be kept with mother. His father was 
Cynthia's step-father, described as Case 30. 

8 — Female, died at twelve years of childbirth. Mentality unknown. 

We are impressed with the fact that John S., recognized as feeble-minded 
and dependent upon the pubHc for his maintenance, was allowed to choose a 
second wife from the Infirmary population, and leaving his four feeble-minded 
children in the Infirmary to be taken care of by the county, go out with her 
and bring eight other children into the world. But three of these eight sur- 
vived and all three are both feeble-minded and viciously immoral. They are 
now bringing a third generation of defectives into the world. And all because 
a man with a child's mind was given the freedom and personal liberty which 

63 



is the right of the normal-minded person, but which can never be wisely used 
b)^ one of feeble intelligence. 

IV. The N Family 

Peter N. came from West Virginia to the Ohio Country. Taught a back district school.' Was a 
hard drinker. Died while on a drunken spree. Married a West Virginia woman who was "not very 
bright" and had a speech defect. She was possibly feeble-minded. They had twelve children, six boys and 
six girls. 

1— Male, born 1829. Died 1911 in County Infirmary of apoplexy. Was twice admitted to the 
Infirmary and spent three years and eleven months of his life there. Basket maker. Occasionally 
worked in harvest field. Lazy, likeable, good natured, heavy drinker, very religious, speech defect, 
partially dependent most of his life. Married a woman who had idiotic child in Institution for Feeble- 
Minded, and had five children: 

a— The oldest son, born 1867. Steady worker. Hard drinker. Fair intelligence. Has feeble- 
minded child. 

b — The second son. Hard drinker. Speech defect. Fairly good worker. Walked into thf 
river when drunk and was drowned. Never married. 

c — The third son. Low mentality. Basket maker. Hard drinker. Never married. Died 
of tubercular abcesses. 

d— The fourth son, born 1873. Generally considered feeble-minded. Speech defect, peculiar 
idioms. Works on farms, but cannot hold a job. Hard drinker. Has spent two years and nine 
months in County Infirmary. Not married. 

e — The fifth child, a girl, born 1876. Died of cancer of the stomach. Could not read or 
write. Could not talk plainly. Lazy, dirty, immoral. Said on good authority to have been feeble- 
minded. Admitted to the County Infirmary January 29, 1896, "pregnant and destitute." Dis- 
charged May 7, 1896. Father of her child a worthless tramp. Child, born 1896. Was sent to 
Girl's Industrial Home for immorality. Present whereabouts unknown. 

2— Male, never married. Heavy drinker. Said to have been the brightest son in the family. 
Killed by a train while drunk. 
3 — Male, never married. Heavy drinker. Killed by a train while drunk. 

4— ^lale, born 1843. Never married. Basket maker. Unusually heavy drinker. Said to have 
been much below par in intelligence. Was twice admitted to the County Infirmary. Spent five years 
there. Found dead in a creek. Had been on drunken spree. 

6 — Male, born 1845. Went to school but was not able to learn to read and write. Made baskets 
and pick handles. Hard drinker. Speech defect. Small beady eyes. Expressionless face. Unable to 
carry on a conversation. Inmate of the County Infirmary. Has been there four years. Married a 
nervous hysterical woman and had eight children; four daughters are married. No description of 
them obtained. 

a— One son, died young. 

b — Second son, a heavy drinker. Shot in drunken fight. 

c— Third son not married. Lives alone in a shanty with a couple of hounds. Makes pick 
handles. Is drunk most of the time. Generally recognized as feeble-minded. Is physically 
crippled. 

d— Fourth son, born 1874. At present an inmate of County Infirmary. Has been there over 

four years. Helpless cripple, diagnosis, locomotor ataxia. Formerly a hard drinker. Better 

mentality than that of his father. Married and had four children; two were born dead, and two 

died at birth. 

7 — Female, considered much below average intelligence. Not considered immoral, but once ran 

away with her brother-in-law. Died at thirty -five of tuberculosis. Had four children, for two of 

whom no description was obtained. 

a— .'\ son was remembered by a former school-mate as a big boy in the primer class. 
Present whereabouts unknown, 

b — A daughter was very backward in school. Was twice in County Infirmary to give birth 
to children. Died in 1894 of childbirth. Her oldest daughter, born 1885 in County Infirmary, is 
now an inmate there. When a child was transferred to the Children's Home. When nine years 
old was committed to the Girls' Industrial Home. At sixteen was paroled and went to live with 
her grandmother. At eighteen was sent back to the Infirmary, where she has been ever since. 
During her. two years freedom gave birth to an illegitimate child which died in infancy. This girl 
makes a co-efficient of mental ability of .63 by the Yerkes-B ridges Point scale. She is feeble- 
minded. Her brother, born in the Infirmary, died in infancy. No description was obtained for 
another brother and sister. 
8 — Female, was probably of defective intelligence, A relative said, "Her house burned down 
and she paid no attention to it." Could read, but not write. Was dirty and immoral. Died about 
1908 of old age. IMarried into a family of low intelligence and thieving habits. Had five children: 
a— The oldest son not considered bright. Ran away with a circus at sixteen years, 
b— .\ daughter died many years ago. Was married and had six children. 

64 



c— The third child, a son, born 1873. Is now an inmate of County Infirmary. Has been 
there four years. Worked at basket making, but could never make a living. Talks very little. 
Imbecile. Married and had two children who died. 

d— The fourth child, a girl, had a speech defect. Said to be as feeble-minded as her brother 
in the Infirmary. Now dead. Married her second cousin and had two children now in other 
states. 

e— The fifth child, said to be "not yery bright," settled in another county. 
9— Female, a hard worker and of good intelligence. Married an intelligent man and had nine 
children, one of whom died young and another at thirty years of tuberculosis. The others were all 
said to have been of normal intelligence. 

10— Female, born in 1848. As a young woman spent a month in County Infirmary when ill 
with typhoid fever. Had good reputation, probably not below normal in intelligence. Married her 
first cousin and had five children: 

a— A son died in the army, 
b— A daughter married and is now dead. 

c— Another daughter was never married and died at nineteen of childbirth, 
d — A son not married. Died at twenty-four years of tuberculosis. 

e— A daughter born 1874. Recognized as feeble-minded by her own relatives. Was twice in 
County Infirmary. Spent in all ten months there. On second admission was "pregnant and 
destitute." V^ery repulsive in appearance, sore eyes and mouth, projecting teeth, dirty. The story 
was told that her husband left her because she "cooked a young pig with its eyes in." Had an 
illegitimate son, now in another state. Her daughter, born 1895, was for two mo,nths in the 
County Infirmary with her mother, as a child. Said to be of low mentality, but a clean house- 
keeper. Has married a member of a defective family. The third child was born in 1898 in the 
County Infirmary. The story is that when three years old her dress caught fire from a pipe she 
was smoking. Her mother tried to put out the flames and both she and the child died as a result 
of the burns sustained. 
11— Female. Dirty, lazy. Said to have been below average intelligence. "As near no-account as 
she could be." Died old. Married her first cousin and had five children: 
a— The oldest daughter is of good intelligence. 

b— The second daughter, born in 1861. Low grade imbecile. Microcephalic. Walks in 
stooped position, makes queer gestures and mumbles. Less than five feet tall. Is popularly be- 
lieved to look like a muskrat. Defect thought to be due to maternal impression. 

c— The third daughter. Much below average intelligence. Lazy. Extremely immoral sexu- 
ally and alcoholic. Married her second cousin, who had a speech defect and was a hard drinker. 
They had ten children, for whom descriptions were not obtained. 

d— The fourth child, a son, never married. Lives alone in a shanty. Works chopping wood 
or as porter and bar-keeper in a country saloon. Hard drinker. His sister said of him, "People 
say he ain't bright." 

e— The fifth child, a daughter, born in 1876. Recognized by her family as feeble-minded. 
Sexually immoral. Once in the Infirmary as a young woman and spent one winter there since her 
marriage. Married an alcoholic man, but they quarrel frequently and separate. They have had 
two children. A boy died at six years. A girl, born 1899, was sent to the Girls' Industrial Home 
for truancy when sixteen years old. At that time she had a mental age of 8.7 years by psycho- 
logical test. 
12 — Female. Speech defect. Could not read or write. Died old. She, with her husband and son, 
were familiar figures on the country roads as they spent most of their time visiting their friends. 
She always carried some bread in the front of her dress. All three were said to be weak-minded. 
Her son is now living in another county. Was described as "anaemic and not bright enough to take 
care of himself." A physician said, "He is almost a- drooling idiot." He picks berries and digs greens 
for a living. He married into a defective strain and had eight children, all of whom died in infancy 
or died young. 

Sixteen members of the N Family have been inmates of the County 
Infirmary in three generations, and the third generation is still young. 
Four were inmates of the Infirmary when it was visited by the field worker. 
Eleven members of this family known to be feeble-minded were located of 
whom six were at large in the county and three in the Infirmary. There 
were several others who were probably feeble-minded but sufficient data 
are lacking for final diagnosis. The men of the family have been heavy 
drinkers, five of them having met sudden death while drunk. Many of the 
women have been sexually immoral. The family is best known for its 
dependent habits. Through the wife of Peter N. they are related to the 

65 

5 F M 



Z Family, who are believed to have originally come from New Jersey, but 
remained several years in West Virginia before coming to Ohio. People 
with the Z name are numerous in the county and are generally shiftless, 
dishonest, and inclined to get into police court for drunkenness and petty 
offenses. Their mentality is generally of a low order but the larger 
number of them are self-supporting. Five feeble-minded persons were 
found in the county who were descended from Jo Z., a first cousin of the 
wife of Peter N. When these are added to the nine feeble-minded 
descendants of Peter N and his wife, it makes a total of fourteen feeble- 
minded persons found living in the county who belong to the N-Z strain. 

V. Summary of Defective Strains 

The 4 families which have been described in detail are the most im- 
poi-tant defective strains in the county. The Hickory family alone is respon- 
sible for 13.5% of the total feeble-minded population of the county. The 
following table shows the number of feeble-minded contributed by each of 
five family groups to the total number of feeble-minded in the county. 

TABLE XV 
Feeble-Minded in the County Belonging to Five Family Strains 



The Hickory Family 

The N-Z Family 

The D Family 

The Y Family 

The X Family 

Five Families 



AT LARGE 



72 
11 
12 
9 
10 



114 



In One of the 
County Institutions 



12 



TOTAL 



78 
14 
13 
11 
10 



126 



There are many smaller family groups of feeble-minded included in 
the total. A summary of them is given below: 



2 groups 
2 groups 

4 groups 
6 groups 

5 groups 

6 groups 
12 groups 
29 groups 

66 groups 



of 9 feeble- 
of 8 feeble- 
of 7 feeble- 
of 6 feeble- 
of 5 feeble - 
of 4 feeble- 
of 3 feeble- 
of 2 feeble- 



minded in 
minded in 
minded in 
minded in 
minded in 
minded in 
minded in 
minded in 



a family 
a family 
a family 
a family- 
a family 
a family 
a family 
a family 



=18 feeble 
=16 feeble- 
=28 feeble 
=36 feeble 
25 feeble 
=24 feeble 
=36 feeble- 
=58 feeble 



minded 
minded 
minded 
minded 
minded 
minded 
minded 
minded 



241 feeble-minded 



It is an established fact that feeble-mindedness is hereditary. There- 
fore, one need not be surprised that the feeble-minded in this county were 
found to group themselves in families. This fact makes the necessity of 
segregating the feeble-minded the more urgent as each one left at large 
in this generation may be the parent of numberless others in generations 

66 



to come. One can not estimate the saving to the county if Happy Hick- 
ory had been segregated, but at least the community would have been 
saved its present burden of contributing to the support and submitting to 
the petty thieving and vicious immorality of seventy-five feeble-minded 
Hickories. The county would also have been saved the care of twenty- 
three Hickories in the County Infirmary _, and twenty in the Children's 
Home. And in addition, neighboring counties would have been saved a 
similar burden by the segregation of Happy Hickory. 

Another important fact brought out by the study, was that members 
of these different defective strains tend to marry each other. The reason 
may or may not be clear but the result is evident, that when both parents 
carry a similar defect but do not show it, that defect is very likely to ap- 
pear in their children, especially if the fraternity is large. Several instances 
might be pointed out where both parents of the defective child are seemingly 
normal, but have feeble-minded relatives. The only way of meeting this 
condition is to acquaint the public with the danger of a marriage between 
two people whose families show similar defects, and help them to realize 
that there are certain laws of heredity which govern feeble-mindedness. 



67 



G. TOTAL NUMBER OF FEEBLE-MINDED IN THE COUNTY 

According to an estimate of the U. S. Census Bureau, this county had 
on July 1, 1916, 54,389 inhabitants. When the number of feeble-minded 
found at large in the county is added to the number in the state and 
county institutions, the total is 577 feeble-minded persons, or 1.06^^, or 
10.6 persons to every 1000 of the population of the county. The cases 
were distributed as follows: 

Males Females Total 

In the Institution*for Feeble-Minded 8 12 20 

In other State Institutions 11 10 21 

In the County Infirmary 21 11 32 

In the Children's Home 6 4 10 

In the population at large 303 191 494 

Totals 349 228 577 

Although 83, or 14.3% of the total number of feeble-minded were in 
various institutions, only 20, or 3.4% were properly segregated in an 
appropriate institution, the Institution for Feeble-Minded. Four were in 
an insane hospital where they will probably be confined the rest of their 
lives and very likely a small proportion of those in the . Infirmary will al- 
ways remain there, but the larger number were in institutions where the 
length of residence is limited and from which they will at some time be 
turned back into the community at large. 

Approximately 1% of the total population of this county was found to 
be feeble-minded. In order to make an estimate of the number of feeble- 
minded in the state as a whole, it would be necessary to conduct surveys 
in other representative parts of Ohio. The percentage in this county is 
perhaps representative of the hilly section in the southeastern part of the 
state, though it is hardly possible that every county in that section should 
have a Hickory family. However, it may be said that when this county 
was chosen as the subject of the survey, the existence of the Hickory 
Family was not known. But whatever the percentage for the whole state, 
the fact that a few defective strains have contributed such a large propor- 
tion to the total number of feeble-minded in the county should impress upon 
one the fact of the inheritability of mental defects, and should make one 
consider means of checking the propagation of the feeble-minded. If 
Ohio is to meet this problem by segregation, provision at the Institution 
for Feeble-Minded must be made on a much more extended scale than is at 
present contemplated. 



68 



Publications of the Ohio Board of Administration 

No. 1 — "Kitchen Organization and Administration". By Charles S. 
Pitcher. May, 1914. (Out of print) 

No. 2 — "Report on the Investigation of Four cases of Sudden Death which 
took place at the Athens State Hospital, September 19, 1914", 
By E. R. Hayhurst, M. D., Director of Occupational Diseases, and 
Ernest Scott, M. D., Professor of Pathology, College of Medicine, 
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. September 1914. 

(Out of print) 

No. 3 — "History of the Institutional Care of the Insane". By George R. 
Love, M. D., Superintendent Toledo State Hospital, Toledo, Ohio. 
May, 1915. 

No. 4 — "The Boiler House. A Treatise for the Promotion of Efficiency and 
Economy in the Boiler House". By H. S. Riddle. January, 1915. 

No. 5— "Problem of the Feeble-Minded". By E. J. Emerick, M. D., Su- 
perintendent of the Institution for Feeble-Minded, Columbus, 
Ohio. March, 1915. 

No. 6— "Paresis". By Arthur G. Hyde, M. D., Cleveland State Hospital 
and George H. Reeve, M. D., Cleveland State Hospital. March, 
1915. 

No. 7 — "Mental Examination of Juvenile Delinquents". By Thomas H 
Haines, Ph. D., M. D., Clinical Director of the Bureau of Juve- 
nile Research. December, 1915. 

No. 8— "The Family of Sam Sixty". By Mary Storer Kostir, formerly 
Field Worker for The Bureau of Juvenile Research. January, 
1916. 

No. 9— "A Mental Survey of the Ohio State School for the Blind". By 
Thomas H. Haines, Ph. D., M. D., Clinical Director of the Bureau 
of Juvenile Research. January, 1916. 

No. 10 — "The Increasing Cost of Crime in Ohio". By Thomas H. Haines, 
Ph. D., M. D., Clinical Director of the Bureau of Juvenile Re- 
search. June, 1916. 

No. 11— "Crime Prevention. The Study of Causes". By Thomas H. 
Haines, Ph. D., M. D., Clinical Director of the Bureau of Juve- 
nile Research. February, 1917. 

No. 12 — "The Feeble-minded in a Rural County of Ohio". By Mina A. 
Sessions, Field Worker for the Bureau of Juvenile Research. 
February, 1918. 



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